Varun Chakravarthy reveals how Rohit, Kohli helped him bag historic 5-fer vs NZ in CT 2025

The 33-year-old India National Cricket Team mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy shined with the ball for his team in the final group stage match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Varun Chakravarthy bagged a 5-wicket haul against the New Zealand National Cricket Team at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, March 2, and won the Player of the Match award for his heroics.

Also Read: ICC Champions Trophy Points Table 2025: Updated Standings After New Zealand vs India, Match 12

New Zealand dismantled by Varun Chakravarthy

The 33-year-old spinner got an opportunity to feature in the India playing XI in the final group stage game as the team management decided to rest pacer Harshit Rana and went with a 4-man spin attack with Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya handling the pace-bowling duties.

Chakravarthy looked quite nervous on the field playing his first-ever ICC Champions Trophy match as he was quite sloppy in the match. His poor fielding left skipper Rohit Sharma angry, but he made up for it with his sensational bowling performance.

After getting the ball, Varun Chakravarthy made the Kiwis look clueless with his brilliant deliveries. He started off by picking the wicket of Will Young to help India get an early breakthrough.

Chakravarthy then returned later in the innings and ran through the New Zealand batting unit. He dismissed Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, and Matt Henry to complete a 5-wicket haul in the match.

Virat, Rohit, Shreyas, and Hardik were talking to me and that helped - Varun Chakravarthy

Chakravarthy, while speaking after the match, said that he felt nervous initially, but Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Shreyas Iyer had chats with him that calmed him down and allowed him to focus on the game. He 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."

The spinner revealed that he came to know about his selection last night and credited Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and other bowlers for India's win in the match. He said:

"(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."

Full list of records created by Varun Chakravarthy

With his maiden ODI 5-fer against New Zealand, Chakravarthy became the fastest Indian bowler to get to this feat as he took a 5-wicket haul in his second ODI, breaking the record of Stuart Binny who picked 6/4 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2014 in his third ODI.

Best figures on Champions Trophy debut:

6/52 Josh Hazlewood vs NZ Edgbaston 2017

5/42 Varun Chakaravarthy vs NZ Dubai 2025

5/53 Mohd Shami vs Ban Dubai 2025

Best figures for India in the Champions Trophy:

5/36 Ravindra Jadeja vs WI The Oval 2013

5/42 Varun Chakravarthy vs NZ Dubai 2025

5/53 Mohd Shami vs Ban Dubai 2025

4/38 Sachin Tendulkar vs Aus Dhaka 1998

4/45 Zaheer Khan vs Zim Colombo RPS 2002

Best figures in Champions Trophy 2025:

5/42 - Varun Chakaravarthy (India) vs New Zealand

5/42 - Matt Henry (New Zealand) vs India

5/53 - Mohammed Shami (India) vs Bangladesh