Ravichandran Ashwin, a former all-rounder for India, feels that mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was the real 'X-Factor' behind India's Champions Trophy success, giving credit for the same to his performances.
Even though Chakravarthy did not play throughout the tournament, he made the best out of the faith shown in him by captain Rohit and head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Interestingly, Chakravarthy was not included in India's Champions Trophy team initially. But his outstanding performance in the white-ball series against England earned him a late inclusion, a move that proved to be a game-changer.
Though New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra was officially declared 'Player of the Tournament,' Ashwin strongly believed that Chakravarthy deserved the award more.
"Even though whatever decision has been made, I personally think the Player of the Tournament should have been Varun Chakravarthy," said Ashwin on his Hindi YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat. "He didn't play the whole tournament, but he made such a huge difference. Without him, this match would have had a totally different result. He brought that X-factor, that surprise element. If I was the judge, I would have awarded it to Varun. He was the game-changer of the biggest kind."
Ashwin was especially impressed with Chakravarthy's bowling that got rid of Glenn Phillips.
"See how he dismissed Glenn Phillips. Phillips was not even covering the stumps, so Varun adjusted and went wide of the crease and bowled a wonderful googly. To me, he was the best player. The Player of the Series should be given to someone who contributed the most, and that is what Varun did," he said.
India's bowling unit has also been acclaimed by the senior spinner for ensuring the title for the team through their disciplined showing in keeping New Zealand at 251/7 in the third and final fixture.
"I am overjoyed for Rohit and Gautam Gambhir. Imagine how GG must have felt. He had suffered a setback in the Test series against New Zealand and then there was this and another setback, he made this confident decision. And this Indian side won the Champions Trophy without Jasprit Bumrah. That says a lot about Indian cricket. It demonstrates our tremendous depth. I think the rest of the world is going to take some time to match us," Ashwin said.
After the final, Chakravarthy, who was the tournament's second-highest wicket-taker, conceded that even he had not expected the campaign to be so successful.
"I did not expect it to go in this manner. It is an absolute dream come true. In the first innings, there wasn't much of spin, and hence I kept myself disciplined and followed the fundamentals," he said in a post-match interview to the broadcasters.
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