Varun Chakravarthy achieves MASSIVE record in ICC Champions Trophy 2025 win over New Zealand, becomes first Indian bowler to…

Varun Chakravarthy bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in just his second ODI match in the Group A match of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday.

Team India pulled off a brilliant move by bringing ‘mystery spinner’ Varun Chakravarthy into the playing 11 for the Group A match against New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match in Dubai on Sunday. On a Dubai pitch, with is increasingly starting to help the spin bowlers, Chakravarthy was the 4th spinner in the Indian attack – replacing pacer Harshit Rana.

Playing in just his second ODI match after making his debut against England in Cuttack earlier this month, Chakravarthy picked up his maiden five-wicket haul – 5/42 – to spin out New Zealand for 205 and set up India’s 44-run win. With Sunday night’s win, India march into the Champions Trophy 2025 semifinal with an all-win record and will take on ODI world champions Australia in a last-four match in Dubai on Tuesday (March 4).

Chakravarthy etched his name in the record books with a sensational five-wicket haul in just his second ODI appearance. He became the fastest Indian to achieve this milestone in terms of matches, surpassing Stuart Binny’s record. Binny had previously set the benchmark with figures of 6/4 against Bangladesh in his third ODI back in 2014.

Chakravarthy’s victims included Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, and Matt Henry, as he wrapped up with impressive figures of 5/42. This remarkable feat made him only the third Indian bowler to claim a five-wicket haul in the Champions Trophy. Additionally, his spell ranks as the second-best bowling performance by an Indian in the tournament’s history.

He also joined an elite club, becoming just the third bowler — after Josh Hazlewood and Mohammed Shami — to take a five-wicket haul on his Champions Trophy debut.

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For his outstanding performance, Chakravarthy was awarded the Player of the Match. Reflecting on the game, he shared that he only learned about his selection on Saturday night. Initially nervous, he found reassurance and confidence through the support of senior players Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, and Hardik Pandya, who helped him settle in before the big match.

“Not much pressure because the senior spinner Kuldeep (Yadav) is also playing, Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is also playing, so not much pressure because they are also there. And of course, being an all-spin attack is also in certain ways gives a lot of pressure because there are no much fast-bowling options. So, you need to hit the money,” Chakravarthy said in post-match press conference on Sunday night.

Chakravarthy added that he was pleased to make up for the disappointment of T20 World Cup 2021 at the same venue. “Yeah, of course, in 2021, we didn’t have a – I didn’t, personally, I didn’t have a great tournament here. But I do feel that I did bowl decently. But the results were not our way. But it looks good right now. And Team India is doing well. And the combinations have set very well so feels good,” he added.