Varun Chakravarthy and India sang a redemption song on Sunday in Dubai, exorcising the ghosts of the T20 World Cup 2021 by using spin to dismantle New Zealand in their Group A clash of the Champions Trophy 2025. It was a battle of contrasting styles, but India’s four-man spin attack outclassed New Zealand’s pace-heavy approach on a sluggish pitch at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Drafted into the Champions Trophy squad at the last moment and handed a place in the XI for India’s third Group A game, Varun Chakravarthy delivered a masterclass in spin bowling. The BlackCaps had no answers to his wizardry, as Varun Chakravarthy claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in one-day internationals, stepping up at the perfect moment for India.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The leg side is shorter for the right handers, and it is a longer hit down the ground. Great weather out here, it is just 24 degrees. This is a black soil pitch from Pakistan, pretty dry and will help spinners in the beginning, but later on it comes on better as the lights come on. The economy rate of the spinners are better, but pacers have picked more wickets reckons Simon Doull and Dinesh Karthik
Toss : New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to bowl with one change in the Playing XI with Devon Conway making way for Daryl Mitchell. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma batting first also made one change in the Playing XI with Varun Chakravarthy playing his debut Champions Trophy game in place of Harshit Rana.
Matt Henry’s five-fer restricts India to 249 in Dubai after Shreyas Iyer’s valiant 79 runs
Matt Henry took 5 for 42 as New Zealand restricted India to 249 in the clash for Group A honours at the Champions Trophy 2025. On another slow surface at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, one for which India named four spinners, the two-already qualified teams set up an engrossing finish after dominating different phases of the first 50 overs.
If New Zealand are the happier team at the mid-point of this game, it was largely down to their excellent start with the ball and their dynamism on the field after winning the toss.
Like in that famous World Cup semifinal between these sides in Manchester, India’s top-order encountered a Henry-shaped roadblock. After bowling short of a good length to begin, the seamer pushed one ball further up and managed to beat Shubman Gill on the shuffle to trap the in-form batter LBW.
Virat Kohli, fresh of a century, was eager to put Henry off his lengths and even managed to draw a short and wide delivery but his cut shot found a flying Glenn Phillips, who matched and perhaps even bettered his own effort to catch Mohammad Rizwan earlier in the tournament. Between them, captain Rohit Sharma mistimed an attempted pull straight to a leaping mid-wicket.
New Zealand restricted India largely through seam with Matt Henry taking five wickets and their spinners bowling 25 overs for 128 runs and just two wickets. Henry as usual was spot on with the ball seaming for him and swinging for Kyle Jamieson. In no time, New Zealand had India at 30 for 3 with Glenn Phillips adding Virat Kohli to his highlight reel of spectacular catches.
India were 30 for 3. Incidentally, the last time they were three down for 46 or fewer runs after 15 overs was six years ago, in that famous game at Old Trafford. Like on that occasion, the coming together of a left-right pair brought some relief. Axar Patel, playing at No.5, joined forces with Shreyas Iyer to put the innings back on track. The partnership got off to a very sedate beginning, going as many as 51 balls without a boundary. At one stage, Axar had batted 24 balls for five runs before he timed a sweep off Michael Bracewell for four.
Interestingly, Bracewell was the least effective of New Zealand’s spinners, often missing his lengths. In his defence, some of it was down to the way Iyer pressed forward while facing him as if to suggest he was stepping out, only to rock back and pick the boundaries. Iyer also carved three boundaries off a William O’Rourke over as India’s total inched past 100 in the 25th over. He was ably supported by Axar, who handled New Zealand’s spinners very well.
Iyer got to a crucial 75-ball half-century continuing his exemplary run of scores against New Zealand in ODIs — six 50+ knocks in eight innings. But like in the previous game played here, batters found it difficult to start on the wicket and the end of the 98-run partnership proved catastrophic for India. Axar fell for 42 after paddling a catch to short fine-leg.
Iyer and Axar Patel then shored India up with some old-fashioned ODI batting. They went 51 balls without a boundary but didn’t play a rash shot. Iyer went from 12 off 29 to 27 off 35 and went back into his bunker, eschewing any risk before opening up after having faced 63 balls. Axar kept pressing claims to a proper allrounder spot with a mature 42 off 61 in the 98-run stand.
Iyer and KL Rahul put on a brisk stand for the fifth wicket but the former’s insistence on going after the short ball led to his downfall as a third top-edged pull found a fielder to end his excellent knock on 79. Soon enough, Rahul too departed, outfoxed by a sharp turner from Mitchell Santner that found his edge on the way to the ‘keeper.
At 182 for 6 in the 40th over, India faced the possibility of not batting out their full quota of overs. But Hardik Pandya played a crucial innings of 45 lower down the order, forging a 41-run stand with Jadeja. This promising stand too was ended by Henry with lots of help from a flying backward point fielder, with Kane Williamson the acrobatic fielder on this occasion to send back Jadeja. Henry added two more wickets in the final over to finish with a five-fer as India managed only eight runs more than what Pakistan had scored against them.
After taking 21 runs off 19 short or short-of-a-length deliveries, Iyer finally fell to a bouncer from Will O’Rourke in the 37th over, a wicket that curtailed India’s ambitions at the death. Still, KL Rahul’s 23 off 29 and Hardik Pandya’s run-a-ball 45, which he scored while also turning down singles when batting with the tail, took India to a challenging total.
India set up semifinal date with Australia as Varun Chakravarthy’s five-fer sinks NZ in Champions Trophy 2025
In theory, India’s total of 249 was only eight more than what Pakistan managed against them a week ago at this very venue. But the pitch offered substantially more grip and with no real onset of dew in the second innings, India’s selection call turned out to be astute. Rohit Sharma didn’t waste too much time introducing spin, bringing on Axar Patel in the sixth over.
Before that though, Hardik Pandya, now playing as the second seamer, prised out Rachin Ravindra with a well-directed short ball with Axar completing a neat diving catch at third man.
Hardik then proved to be a serviceable replacement for Harshit Rana with the new ball, drawing some movement in the first over and then getting Rachin Ravindra caught on the upper-cut. Before long, spin was in, and it was apparent New Zealand were not reading Varun out of the hand, from whom they had collectively faced 34 balls in all T20Is and IPL before this match.
Will Young, a key batter during New Zealand’s Test whitewash of India in India, was the first one to fail to play a wrong’un off the pitch and pay the price. Daryl Mitchell was all at sea too. India had tied the batters down, the asking rate went to six in the 23rd over, and runs only came in drips, a nudge here, a paddle there, and the rare loose ball. How long could they avoid a risk.
Varun Chakravarthy incidentally began with a very full ball and was driven down the ground by Williamson for four. That was a rare mis-step in length on the night for the spinner, who began working over New Zealand’s batters soon enough with his bag of variations. In his second over, he had Will Young play the wrong line and inside-edge the ball onto his stumps.
In came Daryl Mitchell, who hit hundreds in each of the two games against India in the last World Cup and one who generally has multiple options against spin. Here though, India locked up his reverse sweep with a well-placed short third-man and denied him any releases. Mitchell struggled to pick Kuldeep off the hand and was eventually put out of his misery by the left-arm wrist spinner after missing a leg spinner and wearing it on his pads adjacent to the stumps.
It didn’t matter as Kuldeep Yadav had Mitchell lbw with the perfect left-arm wrist spinner’s delivery, but it also beat Mitchell’s inside edge by a distance unbecoming of an international batter. He also burned a review, which would cost Michael Bracewell a reprieve later.
It was a feature of India’s spinners as they hardly ever left the stumps even on a turning track, thereby ensuring that the LBW remained a hot mode of dismissal with as many as four middle-order batters trapped in front of the stumps. Tom Latham missed a reverse sweep against Ravindra Jadeja while Varun Chakravarthy accounted for Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell, although the latter would have survived with a review.
The 40-run stand between Williamson and Latham was the smoothest New Zealand batted with Latham’s sweeps and Williamson’s inside-out chips giving them some momentum. At the 30-overs mark, New Zealand had scored exactly half of their target and had seven wickets in hand. However, Jadeja soon turned one past Latham’s reverse-sweep from around the wicket, and bowled it so accurately that it pitched on and turned enough to hit the wicket.
Now the game changed. Williamson would have to carry this chase on his bat if New Zealand were to get close. Varun Chakravarthy came back to make even that a near impossibility. Phillips missed an in-drifting half-volley one ball after pulling Varun Chakravarthy for a six. Then a significant dismissal followed.
At the other end, Williamson tried to hold the chase together and even benefitted from three dropped catches – two of them from KL Rahul behind the stumps. Eventually, with the asking rate climbing steeply, he looked to take on Axar and was deceived in the flight and was stumped for a sedate 120-ball 81. With it ended New Zealand’s hopes and opened the gates up for Varun Chakravarthy to add two more lower-order wickets to complete a well-deserved five-fer.
Video analysis suggests Varun Chakravarthy tends to bowl wrong ‘uns with a scrambled seam and leg breaks with the seam straight and tilted to slip. Now, though, he got Bracewell with a legbreak bowled with a scrambled seam, which presents batters and analysts with a new challenge. Also Williamson, probably mindful of only one review left, advised against the review only for the projection to show it hadn’t turned back enough to be hitting the stumps.
Dropped on 17 and 68, Williamson couldn’t make India pay the ultimate price as Axar got the man off his bowling with the last ball of his allotment. The asking rate of nine an over now demanded a risk, and Williamson just walked past a straight delivery. Mitchell Santner delayed the inevitable, but Varun Chakravarthy ended his resistance with his other variation: a medium-pace cross-seam ball bowled at 113ks to rip out the off stump. He had four balls left in which to complete a five-for. It took him two as Henry tried to hit out.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Rohit Sharma the winning Indian skipper said : Important to finish on a high. NZ are a good team who are playing some good cricket. Very important to get a good result, we played a perfect game. It was important at that stage (after being 30/3) to build a partnership, and I thought we got to a good total. We have the quality in our bowling to defend that total.
(On Chakravarthy) He has something different about him, so wanted to try and see what he can offer. We haven’t thought much about the next game, but good headache to have. Critical to possibly win every game and doing everything right in a short tournament.
Important to correct mistakes quickly, and that’s where we know if your team is going up or going down. It will be a good game, Australia has a rich history of playing ICC tournaments well, but is is about us and what we want to do well on that particular day. It will be a great contest, looking forward to that. Hopefully we can stitch one towards us.
Mitchell Santner the losing NZ skipper said : It was a slower wicket than what we have come against. We knew that going in. India controlled the middle phase better. Shreyas played a great knock that was finished off well by Hardik. It spun a bit more than we thought, and they squeezed us well with four quality spinners.
The key for us was getting wickets in the powerplay, and that was good to see. Our next game is in Lahore where Henry will be massive. (On facing South Africa) On those wickets with some pace and bounce, they have four good pacers so we will have to see how we play them. We have to wait and see if it is a used surface or a fresh one.
Varun Chakravarthy Player of the Match for his 5-fer said : First of all I did feel nervous in the initial stages. I have not played many matches for India in the ODI format but as the game went on I felt better. Virat, Rohit, Shreyas and Hardik were talking to me and that helped.
(on when he knew he was playing this game) I found out last night. I was definitely expecting to play for the country but on the other side I was nervous. It was not a rank turner, but if you bowled in the right places it was giving help. The way Kuldeep, Jaddu and Axar bowled, even the pace bowlers, it was a total team effort.
Varun Chakravarthy, an architect before he pursued a career in cricket, went wicketless in three matches during the T20 World Cup 2021, after which he spent three years on the sidelines. However, since his return to the senior national team in 2024, he has been unstoppable.
After taking 31 wickets in 12 matches in his second stint in T20I cricket, which began in 2024, Varun Chakravarthy was included in India’s Champions Trophy squad. His head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who had witnessed his brilliance firsthand at Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024, played a key role in his unexpected selection for the major tournament — one that proved to be a masterstroke on the big stage.
Varun Chakravarthy made his ODI debut in a series against England in February but remained on the bench for India’s Group A matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy. As pundit Robin Uthappa pointed out, India may have been saving Varun Chakravarthy to unleash him against the strongest opposition. They did just that on Sunday, and Varun Chakravarthy bamboozled New Zealand with his magic.
India spun a web around New Zealand to defend 249 for their sixth straight win against what has been a bogey team for them in recent times. They added Varun Chakravarthy to the three spinners they already were playing, and he responded with a five-for at a venue where an indifferent showing against Pakistan in 2021 led to a major setback to his international career.
Finishing top of their group, India will now face Australia in the semi-final on Tuesday. New Zealand and South Africa are to fly back to Pakistan for their semi-final on Wednesday.
This was an old-fashioned ODI in which the new ball seamed and swung in the first innings followed by gradual slowing down and increasing grip. Absence of any significant dew meant batting kept getting more and more difficult. Shreyas Iyer scored his slowest fifty followed by Kane Williamson’s slowest score of 80 or above.
Wave after wave of attack from India’s spinners was held back by some luck and Williamson, but eventually they broke the bund starting with Ravindra Jadeja getting Tom Latham lbw on the reverse-sweep in the 33rd over. India bowled 29 overs of spin out of the 30 middle overs, and 37.3 in all for nine wickets and just 166 runs.
This was an improvement after their spinners had gone at 0.7 an over more than the opposition spinners in the first two games. Turns out it was only a function of bowling first when the ball gripped less than in the second innings.
It’s official now. India will face Australia in the Champions Trophy semifinal while New Zealand will fly back to Lahore to face South Africa. Beyond the academic matter of finalising the semifinal line-up, the two-already qualified teams from Group A also had an opportunity to send a warning shot to the other two remaining teams and it was India that served the most ominous dose of their credentials as they unleashed a four-pronged spin attack to strangle New Zealand in a defence of 249, winning by 44 runs.
Leading the spin pack was Varun Chakravarthy, brought into the XI at the expense of a fast bowler, Harshit Rana, to reinforce an already imposing attack on the tired surfaces of Dubai. It was at this very venue four years ago in another ICC event that Varun’s career veered off-track.
Tonight, in the middle of a purple patch, he proved to be un-pickable and claimed his maiden ODI five-fer as India’s quartet of spinners cumulatively took 9 for 156 to bring New Zealand’s chase to a screeching halt despite a battling, but chancy 81 from Kane Williamson.
Horses for courses! On a slow, low surface that was turning quite a bit, India have terrorised the opposition with nearly 40 overs of spin, coasting through to a win in the end. New Zealand lost Rachin Ravindra early, thanks a diving catch from Axar at third-man. Will Young and Williamson got a bit of a partnership, but the former was castled by Chakravarthy. Mitchell and Williamson then scored too slowly, as the spinners sunk their claws into them.
Mitchell departed, and then the rest of the middle order feel meekly. Williamson was waging a long battle but he too was stumped off Axar Patel’s final delivery. Santner entertained with a few meaty sixes, but the game was too far gone by then. Jadeja was turning it square at pace, and Chakravarthy deceived the batters with his variations. The mystery spinner ended with a fifer, while the rest of the spinners were all amongst the wickets.
Varun Chakravarthy has picked a five-fer in his second ODI – the earliest by an Indian bowler in his ODI career. The previous earliest was Stuart Binny who picked 6/4 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2014 in his third ODI.
So India play Australia in an ODI for the first time since the night of 19th November, 2023. Words like revenge would be a bit misplaced given the tournaments are at different statures, but India vs Australia in an ICC knockout game would be a thrilling contest nonetheless. New Zealand travel back to Lahore where they will play South Africa.