‘He is a threat to every team...’: David Miller explains how South Africa countered Varun Chakaravarthy
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘He is a threat to every team...’: David Miller explains how South Africa countered Varun Chakaravarthy")
Varun Chakaravarthy and Suryakumar Yadav Photograph: (AFP)
David Miller and Dewald Brevis aggressively attacked Varun Chakravarthy, with the spinner finishing his four overs for an expensive 47/0.
Varun Chakravarthy has played a key role in helping India control several strong batting line-ups with his mystery spin over the past year and a half. In the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the defending champions have often struggled with the bat, but Chakravarthy has frequently stepped up with the ball. However, it was a different story on Sunday (Feb 22) in their first Super Eight clash against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, where India suffered a heavy 76-run defeat after conceding 187/7. Expected to trouble the opposition, Chakravarthy failed to make an impact on a surface that offered little assistance to spinners, finishing with figures of 0/47 in four overs. David Miller (63 off 35) and Dewald Brevis (45 off 29) took him on and played match-winning knocks for their team.
After the match, Miller explained how his team handled the Indian spinner. He said it was important to stay calm, move less at the crease and show strong intent. According to him, the plan was simple, attack the bad balls and trust the bounce and line, as the pitch was not offering much turn.
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Miller added that once they realised the ball was not spinning much, they decided to attack Chakravarthy because they knew he is a major threat to any team. The South African players had discussed this approach before the game.
“I think it’s just about really making sure that we were on it in terms of if he bowls a bad ball we got to put it away – so a little bit more intent and it wasn’t spinning too much tonight, so you can kind of trust the line,” Miller told reporters after the match.
“And once we felt that, then we felt, OK, we’ve got to take him down, because he is a threat to every team that he does play against. So it was definitely something that we did speak about,” he explained.
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“It’s about making sure that you really stick to the simple things and the basics and do that really well. Like I said, my intent always has to be up, making sure that I have limited movements, when the ball is bowled, so I’m nice and still, my breathing, running hard, all those simple things. It’s cliche, but it really does, in the heat of battle, those are the things that I clutch to.”
Speaking about the victory, Miller said, “India are beatable. India, as I mentioned, is an incredible team. But for us in a tournament like this, it’s about making sure that we do the simple things and make sure that we stay in our lane as a player and do the job and get the job done.”
