Neither Hardik, nor Ishaan…this player failed in the India vs Namibia match; The captain himself praised

In the match played between India and Namibia on Thursday (February 12) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the stormy half-centuries of Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya may have grabbed the headlines, but the real turning point of the match was the short but deadly spell of Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy. After setting a huge target of 209 runs, India bowled out Namibia for just 116 runs. With this spectacular victory of 93 runs, Team India registered its 10th consecutive win in the T20 World Cup and the foundation of this victory was laid in the very first over of Varun.

Batting first, India got an aggressive start. Ishan Kishan played an explosive inning of 61 runs in 24 balls, while Hardik Pandya scored 52 runs in 28 balls and also took two wickets in bowling. Thanks to these innings, India scored a strong score of 209 runs. However, Namibia’s death bowling limited the damage to some extent, taking 5 wickets for just 25 runs in the last four overs.

Namibia got off to an encouraging start while chasing the target. Runs were scored in the powerplay and captain Gerhard Erasmus rotated the strike with confidence. Despite the small pitch and light dew, Namibia felt they were in contention. According to captain Erasmus, his team was hopeful of victory till after 26 overs of play.

Three wickets in two overs turned the match

From here the match took a turn. As soon as Varun Chakravarthy was brought into the attack, he broke Namibia’s momentum by taking the wicket of opener Lauren Steemkamp on the very first ball. In his spell of just two overs, Varun took 3 wickets for 7 runs and broke the backbone of the chase. After his spell, Indian vice-captain and star all-rounder Axar Patel also increased the pressure by dismissing captain Erasmus. Namibia had lost five wickets on the scorecard—and that was where the result was decided.

In the post-match presentation, Namibia captain Erasmus openly admitted that Varun’s spell was decisive. He said that due to dew, a challenge was expected for the spinners, but Varun rose above the circumstances and snatched the match. Erasmus praised his team’s death bowling and admitted that conceding too many runs after the powerplay was costly. He also said that to compete with big teams, it is necessary to increase specialization in top and bottom overs.

This win was also special for the Indian camp because of the collective performance by the bowling unit; Every bowler took wickets. However, the biggest impact was seen in Varun Chakraborty’s short spell, which changed both the direction and condition of the match.