‘Pushe the ball a little fuller, attack the stumps: Sanjay Bangar’s advice to Varun ahead of WI clash

New Delhi, Mar 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar has advised mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy to bowl fuller lengths and target the stumps as India gear up to face West Indies in a virtual quarterfinal at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.

Analysing Varun’s performances in the Super 8s, Bangar felt the spinner was slightly off his optimal length, particularly in matches where opposition batters were able to line him up.

“Against Zimbabwe, a majority of his deliveries were back of a length, and many of the boundaries came from that area. If he pushes the ball a little fuller and attacks the stumps, that’s where Varun is most dangerous. That has been one of Varun Chakaravarthy’s strengths; if the batsman misses, he is either trapped leg before wicket or bowled," Bangar told Jio Hotstar.

Bangar also highlighted the importance of Varun’s variations against West Indies power-hitters like Shimron Hetmyer, who is looking in great touch in the ongoing tournament.

“Hetmyer tends to target long-on and the mid-wicket region, with a large share of his runs coming there. So, bowling the googly from off-stump to the fourth-stump line, slightly wider outside off, can be very effective. If he goes across, there is always a wicket-taking opportunity for Varun, he added.

Varun getting back in form will be crucial when India face the two-time champions. The number 1 T20I bowler gave away 35 runs against Zimbabwe in the last match and was able to take only one wicket. Against the Proteas, Varun leaked 47 runs and took only one wicket.

Bangar shed light on what Abhishek Sharma did better against Zimbabwe after a poor start to the tournament:

"A couple of Abhishek Sharma’s dismissals came when he was trying to play horizontal-bat shots at the start of his innings, when the ball was new. That was not the case when he began playing with a much straighter bat. Against Zimbabwe, he showed some respect to the bowlers as well and played the ball straight down the line. As a result, he gave himself a good chance to succeed.

"One of his strongest suits is hitting through the off-side because not many players, when they are looking to hit sixes, favour that side. So, if you can take pace off the ball, he can get into trouble. But if you don’t take pace off and bowl in that fourth-stump corridor, he will score freely over covers or mid-off, where he is scoring most of his runs."

Source: IANS