Varun Chakravarthy’s downfall incoming? Glenn Phillips solves mystery, drops bold statement on spinner

New Zealand middle-order batter Glenn Phillips again started to haunt Indian bowlers with his stormy batting style. While the top order of the Blackcaps collapsed early in the second innings of the India vs New Zealand 1st T20I in Nagpur last night, Phillips appeared as their lone warrior in the middle. Varun Chakravarthy also proved costly against him in the game.

India was in a commanding position after securing 238 runs on board. The visitors were under immense pressure when they walked onto the ground in the second phase of the match. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra departed cheaply; Tim Robinson also did very little to counter the Indian bowling attack.

New Zealand was two down for only 1 run on the scoreboard after just 9 balls of the innings. From there, Phillips put the stage on fire with his incredible power-hitting abilities. Cricket fans, Sheldon used to see a batter hammering the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy all over the park. Phillips did it.

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Glenn Phillips went berserk against Varun Chakravarthy

After the match, the batting all-rounder revealed how he got to read the No. 1 T20I bowler so precisely. Phillips, who scored a century in the third of the three-match ODI series for a winning cause, delivered a 78-run knock in the first T20I match of the bilateral competition with a strike rate of 195.00.

The batter decorated his 40-ball innings with 6 sixes and four 4s. But this time, his effort went in vain as the rest of their batting line-up failed to provide the required support to chase down such a mammoth total.

Despite the brilliant batting display of Glenn Phillips, New Zealand fell short, and India eventually won the opening match of the series by 48 runs. But at what cost did the Men in Blue claim the match?

Varun Chakravarthy no longer a 'Mystery' spinner?

Varun Chakravarthy, who is still the best T20I bowler in the world, concluded his 4-over bowling spell with an economy rate of 9.25. He took the wickets of Robinson (21) and Mark Chapman (39), but the way Phillips sent his deliveries out of the park was enough to produce some panic in team India’s dressing room ahead of the T20I World Cup, which is scheduled to start next month. After the match, the Kiwi batter said that it was mostly about balance, position and picking up the right shots.

“He is very difficult to pick and bowls very good length and at a very high pace. For me personally, it’s just getting into strong positions, getting my head in the right place and giving myself the best chance to receive as much information from his hand as possible,” he said, as quoted by TOI.

The track in Nagpur was not spin-friendly enough

He further said that the Nagpur pitch might have also helped him a lot against Varun Chakravarthy, as the ball was not turning much.

“Everyone plays differently, and on pitches that turn more, he becomes more difficult. On pitches like today where there isn't as much turn, it could be a little bit easier at times, but he could be incredibly difficult, very tough to play. I guess everybody has to find their own ways to combat him,” Phillips added.

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