T20 World Cup 2021: Varun Chakravarthy Takes Part In Fitness Drills Ahead Of Scotland Match

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy had a fitness session on Thursday as he races with time to get fit for Scotland game, which will be held in Dubai on Friday.

After featuring in India‘s first two matches, Varun Chakravarthy missed the clash with Afghanistan on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.

At the toss, skipper Virat Kohli said that the spinner is suffering from a niggle; later the BCCI revealed that Varun Chakravarthy has a left calf niggle and therefore was rendered unavailable for selection.

“Varun Chakaravarthy has a left calf issue. He was not available for selection for this game,” a BCCI media statement said, as quoted by NDTV Sports.

While the Indian squad opted to skip the optional session, Varun Chakravarthy underwent a fitness session with physio Nitin Patel along with assistant strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai. He was spotted doing fitness drills and even bowled in the nets at the ICC Academy in Dubai a day before Indian’s encounter with Scotland.

Varun Chakravarthy, who had been in form during the IPL, went wicketless in both matches so far in the T20 World Cup, returning with figures of 0/23 against New Zealand and 0/33 against Pakistan.

Varun Chakravarthy was replaced in the eleven by R Ashwin, who played his first T20I for India since July 2017. Ashwin returned with brilliant figures of 2/14 on a good batting surface. Ashwin’s performance has now made Chakravarthy’s return to the eleven difficult even if he is fit.

India, New Zealand, Afghanistan fight for the same semi-final spot

India opened their account in the tournament with a thumping 66-run win. They would now need to win their remaining two matches in a similar fashion and hope for other results to go their way as well. They will next meet Scotland in Dubai on Friday and then take on Namibia in the last Super 12 match on Monday.

New Zealand have 4 points in 3 matches and Afghanistan have 4 points in 4 matches. Should Kane Williamson’s team register wins in both their remaining games, they will seal a semi-final spot.

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