‘As soon as Harry Brook comes to bat, I will give Varun Chakaravarthy the ball’ – Nick Knight’s suggestion to India ahead of semi-final

Nick Knight suggested that India should bring Varun Chakaravarthy into the bowling attack as soon as England captain Harry Brook walks out to bat in the second semi-final of the 2026 T20 World Cup. The much-anticipated encounter is scheduled to be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, March 5.

Chakaravarthy’s performances with the ball have seen a dip in recent games after he hit the ground running in the marquee event. In the four group games, the Indian mystery spinner accounted for nine wickets. However, in the three Super 8 matches against South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the West Indies, the Tamil Nadu cricketer finished with disappointing figures of 1/47, 1/35, and 1/40, respectively.

Knight opined that Chakaravarthy has been relying a bit too much on his googlies and needs to use his other variations to keep the batters guessing. Despite his indifferent performances in recent games, Knight backed him to play a key role in the semi-final.

“It will be difficult. As soon as Brook comes into bat, I would put Chakravarthy on, whatever the stage of the match. At the moment, he is bowling a few too many googlies; it has become a little too predictable,” Knight said while speaking to The Indian Express.

“He (Chakravarthy) might just need to add a little more variety rather than bowling more googlies than ever before. But he is a high-class bowler and will be a potent force for India,” Knight added.

Chakaravarthy’s best performances in T20I cricket have come against South Africa. However, after the Proteas, the team he enjoys bowling to the most is England. In five T20Is, he has picked up 14 wickets at an average of 9.85 and a strike rate of 7.70. His economy rate is a decent 7.66.

If he can dismiss two England batters on Thursday, he would move to the top in the list of leading wicket-takers in the 20-team tournament.