India’s Varun Chakravarthy celebrates the wicket of England’s batsman during the 3rd T20 Cricket match between India and England at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Tuesday January 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy continued his solid run of form in international cricket, breaking Kuldeep Yadav’s record for most wickets by an Indian spinner in a stretch of T20I matches.

Chakravarthy has been a revelation for the T20I side since his return to the set-up last year, having last played for India in 2021 before that.

In the third T20I, Chakravarthy shined with figures of 5/24 in four overs, getting wickets of skipper Jos Buttler, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer, which completely derailed England from 83/1 to 127/8.

Now since his return to T20Is last year, Varun has played 10 matches, taking 27 wickets at an average of 10.96, an economy rate of 7.40 and best bowling figures of 5/17.

After 16 overall games, he has taken 29 wickets at an average of 14.65, with an economy rate of 6.84, which is also impressive.

Now, he has overtaken Kuldeep Yadav (25 wickets) for most wickets by an Indian spinner in the 10-match stretch in T20Is.

Globally, he stands at number three, next to Syazrul Idrus (Malaysia, 28 wickets) and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (Afghanistan, 30 wickets).

Indian batters faltered against an incisive England bowling attack as the visitors raised their game in a must-win scenario to win the third T20I by 26 runs and keep the five-match series alive.

Mohammed Shami made a solid comeback to international cricket after 14 months but it was Varun Chakravarthy’s bowling effort that stood out as his five-wicket haul helped India limit England to 171/9.

India should have chased down the target but the batters could only manage 145/9 in 20 overs.

India still lead the series 2-1 with the fourth game scheduled in Pune on January 31.

England’s Jos Buttler and Ben Duckett in action during the 3rd T20 Cricket match between India and England at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Tuesday January 28, 2025.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

An indifferent Indian batting line-up made a meal of England’s 171/9 as the visitor stormed back into the five-match series with a 26-run victory in the third T20I at the Niranjan Shah Stadium here on Tuesday.

The Indian top-order’s no-holds-barred approach right from the go opened the door for England and the tourist grabbed the chance with alacrity.

Each of the three English pacers used in the PowerPlay claimed a wicket as Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav perished after choosing to take the ultra-aggressive route.

Tilak Varma’s circumspect method, though, was not enough to defend his stumps against Adil Rashid (4-0-15-1).

India stood at 68 for four after eight overs and the chase now felt ever so difficult.

After four consecutive overs without a boundary, Washington Sundar felt the pinch and was unsuccessful in his attempt to clear mid-on off Jamie Overton (4-0-24-3).

The asking rate kept on increasing and India did not have the answer to the arduous question.

Once Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya went back to the hut, the England camp would have felt assured of its spirited bowling effort yielding a positive result.

Mohammed Shami — who bowled three overs for 25 on his international comeback — did hit a six in his four-ball stay but the game had become a no-contest by then.

Earlier, England fell flat in front of Varun Chakaravarthy (4-0-24-5) once again after being asked to bat first.

The first wicket to fall was that of Phil Salt who was outfoxed by Hardik. The move to bowl a full-length slower bowl after a well-directed short ball made the England opener hit one straight to Abhishek at cover.

Ben Duckett (51, 28b, 7×4, 2×6), however, ensured England recovered well. His five boundaries in a row — first three off Hardik and the others against Washington — gave an ideal launch pad for the visitor.

Suryakumar’s idea to try out the spin-bowling variety at his disposal one by one proved to be a masterstroke as Varun and Axar struck in their second overs. While Varun had Buttler caught by Samson off a seam-up delivery, the left-arm spinner made Duckett drag an attempted big hit straight to long-on.

Harry Brook’s horrid run continued as he chopped one off Ravi Bishnoi and ignited another collapse. Jamie Smith, too, fell after trying to muscle one out of the ground off Varun. Overton walking back after not troubling the scorers off the next ball put England in dire straits.

Varun was not done for the day yet as he came back to become the third Indian to claim multiple five-fors in T20Is after Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav. After getting Carse caught in the deep, Varun brought out the googly and Archer’s defence was no match to the pearler.

Livingstone (43, 24b, 1×4, 5×6) farmed the strike at the fag end of the innings. His three mighty sixes off Bishnoi towards deep-midwicket not only rescued England but also made sure the series stayed alive at 2-1.

India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak addresses the media ahead of the third T20 match between India and England, in Rajkot, on January 27, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Mohammed Shami’s non-inclusion in India’s Playing XI for the first two T20Is against England had created doubts about his fitness.

India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak put an end to the speculation and gave a positive reply on the pacer’s health. Kotak, however, was not keen on revealing the reason behind the delay in the 34-year-old’s return to international cricket.

“Shami is fit, yes. I am not the one who can answer anything about why he is playing or not playing. There is a definite plan and (we are) looking ahead at the upcoming matches and ODIs. That is something coach Gautam (Gambhir) and Suryakumar (Yadav) will take a call on, but fitness is definitely not a problem,” Kotak revealed on the eve of the third T20I at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.

When asked about whether India has any specific plans for the batter-friendly pitch here, Kotak added: “Rajkot is known to be a good batting track. So, it should be a high-scoring game. I wouldn’t say (we have) any areas we will look at because England will also come up with certain plans. The batters will react to what they are bowling… every team does it and we will also do it”.