Ahmedabad, March 7 India captain Suryakumar Yadav dismissed any concerns about Varun Chakravarthy's form on Saturday, but the intrigue surrounding the mystery spinner's spot in the playing XI for the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand continued to linger on the eve of the summit clash here.
With Kuldeep Yadav waiting in the wings, the team's final combination remains a talking point even as the captain insisted that there was no anxiety within the camp regarding Chakravarthy's performance in the tournament.
"There are no concerns about Varun's form. We won the match due to collective effort, and once you have won a match, you shouldn't overthink," Suryakumar replied to a query about whether there was any worry about the spinner going for big scores in recent games.
"If you have 11 players, not everyone will perform on every day. There will be ups and downs, and there are others to cover for that person.
"I have no worries about Varun, as he is a World No. 1 bowler, he knows how to perform on big occasions and win for his team, and I am sure he will definitely win the final for us," Suryakumar spoke highly of his colleague as any captain would.
However, at the training session, there was no definitive way of confirming that Chakravarthy could be considered a certainty.
At the training session here, Chakravarthy largely kept to himself. The Tamil Nadu spinner practiced single-wicket bowling with bowling coach Morne Morkel watching closely from behind the nets.
All this while, Suryakumar, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar were engaged in a chat a short distance away, standing on the match strip.
After a while, Chakravarthy walked back and quietly sat on a blue ice box, observing the proceedings as Kuldeep and Tilak Varma took turns bowling in the adjacent net.
The intrigue surrounding his spot continues as Chakravarthy has gone at nearly nine runs per over in the competition – 8.85 to be precise – including being smashed for 64 runs against England in one of the games.
However, replacing him with Kuldeep may not be a straightforward call either.
The wrist-spinner has played only one game in the tournament, and Daryl Mitchell has historically enjoyed a favourable match-up against him, at least in ODIs.
The same holds true for Glenn Phillips, which adds another tactical layer to India's selection puzzle.
Asked if India could ring in changes for the title clash, Suryakumar chose to keep his cards close to the chest.
"See for yourself tomorrow. It seems you want to know everything today," he said with a smile.
