Varun C vs Kuldeep in T20Is, your pick?

[vvvslaxman]

8 hours ago, Suhaan said:

Had one of them been a proper hitter (I know Varun has ability to hit few but not that proved),that would have sealed them together but they will be surely parted if not all ,in some games during wt20 

We need one of the fast bowler that can swing the bat like CUmmins , Tim southee or even Shaheen.

[vvvslaxman]

I saw this on Instagram where Varuns is explaining about his grind. You think he should be doing that? Long back  Rav I was not happy with Ashein sharing his trade secrets with English media.

[deathmonger]

On 10/3/2025 at 6:14 AM, StraightDrive26 said:

To be really frank there is no basis for dropping either of them which makes it pretty tricky. Varun since his comeback into the Indian team has 38 wickets in 18 T20Is with 2 five wicket hauls at an average of under 13 and SR of 10. Kuldeep during the same period has 28 in 13 games at an average of 11 and a SR of 10, no five wicket hauls but 2 four wicket hauls. Nothing much between the two. Both taking more than 2 wickets a game and their economy rate around 7. The problem for India though is that playing both of them means that they will have 4 bowlers who cannot score many runs, Bumrah, Arshdeep, Kuldeep and Varun. But again if we are relying on the bottom 4 to score runs we are in trouble anyways. I will have to play Axar and along with Pandya he will be one of the two all rounders in the game. India cannot go into T20Is in India will just Pandya and Bumrah, that will not work. But there is no rationale to drop either of Kuldeep or Varun. Even in Asia cup Varun took 7 wickets at an average of 20 and an economy of 6.5.

 

Dropping him when he is doing well will be unfair, especially if age is given as a reason. India should aim for the below playing XI.

 

Samson, Abhishek, Tilak, Surya, another bat (Shreyas or Rinku or Parag), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Varun, Arshdeep, Bumrah.

 

India have to made do with the above line up. This will give us 3 pacers and 3 spinners and 2 part-timers (Abhishek and Tilak). India cannot play Gill, Vice Captain or not. In the next 10+ T20Is India have if Surya does not score many runs, I would rather have both Rinku and Shreyas in place of Surya and Gill, Hardik can take over the captaincy with Shreyas being his deputy. 

India will not play 4 bowlers.

 

One out of Arsh, Kuldeep, Varun misses out.

 

I think a spinner missing makes more sense cause the gap between Washi and them is less than the gap between Dube/NKR and Arshdeep in the bowling department.

 

Bumrah/Hardik/Axar are locks so it will be

 

Arshdeep/Washi/One of Kuldeep or Varun

 

OR

 

Kuldeep/Varun/One of Dube or NKR

 

Main point is 

 

1. Batting till 8

2. 6 bowling options, preferably 3 spin/3 pace

 

Also Tilak/Abhi can bowl a bit so more weightage to keeping a spinner out

[bowl_out]

For SENA, pick Varun.

 

For T20 WC, play both Varun and Kuldeep + one of Axar/Washi

[Lord]

Has to be Varun

 

Kuldeep can come in as an extra spinner if required