Whether India sprang a big surprise on New Zealand by bringing in Varun Chakravarthy in the spin-mix is a matter of conjecture. 

It was a situation, a wonderful one  to be in having assured itself of a semi-final berth of the ICC Champions Trophy that gave  the leeway for Rohit Sharma to whittle down the pace department by leaving out Harshit Rana after two matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan, and going for the fourth spinner option - the other being Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. 

This move, a bold one, paid off as Chakravarthy - a unique leg spinner unlike the conventional type like his predecessor Yuzvendra Chahal  - mesmerised the New Zealand batters, dismissed half the side that paved the way for an emphatic win in the third and final group match of the eight-nation tournament.

The former New Zealand captain and one of the finest players of modern cricket with a strong fundamental base and classic technique, Kane Williamson  stroked him with a full face of the bat and down the ground for  a beautiful boundary - the straight umpire confirming  the boundary after Williamson and Will Young had run three.

But Chakravarthy soon began to.weave magic and the response from the New Zealand batters - including Williamson and Daryl Mitchell was one of being watchful and choosing the forward press. 

Apart from making the ball obey his whims and fancies, another reason that helped Chakravarthy to cause some anxiety in the minds of the New Zealand batters was the tight spell by left arm spinner Axar Patel. Bowling from over and round the wicket Patel was able to exercise control and deny chances to even rotate the strike.

Chakravarthy took four wickets in his second and third spells  and finished with five for 42 in ten overs. And once Patel sent back Williamson the writing on the wall was clear for New Zealand.

But this match from India's point of view was all about Chakravarthy being given the break in the tournament. Dubbed as a Twenty20 specialist, he  virtually demanded a trial in the three match home series against England and the selection committee, once they came to know about the non-availability of Jasprit Bumrah, chose the leg spinner after the fifth Twenty20 match against England in Mumbai. And then they replaced left hand batter Yashasvi Jaiswal with him for the Champions Trophy.

Chakravarthy felt that his 14 wicket haul in the five match Twenty20 series against England was the clincher for his selection in the ODI squad. Sure enough Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma were also keen to have him in the squad as an option. 

After a disappointing display in the World Twenty20 in the UAE in 2021, Chakravarthy persisted in the domestic tournaments to stage a comeback. 

As Sharma explained on Sunday after the match against New Zealand: " Look, he just showed what he is capable of.Obviously, he got a game, he did everything that was asked for and I said it at the post-match as well that he has got something different about him and when he gets it right, he knocks people over and he takes 5-5 wickets. So, it is very tempting to think about what to do, which is a good headache to have (for the team selection against Australia)."

Sharma further said:"Look speaking about Varun, I think he has become more accurate now from the last time he played for India was way back in 2021. There was a little bit of inexperience in him as well because he hadn't played a lot of cricket but right now in the last two or three years he has played a lot of cricket,  whether it's domestic cricket, IPL and now for India in T20s and now the ODIs as well. So, he understands his bowling really well. There is definitely, you know, something about his bowling which he is using to his advantage.

" You know, some of our batters also couldn't figure that out, which is always nice. I think he has become more and more accurate and the pace variation is superb. Watching from behind when I was standing in the slips, the variation of his has become a lot more.  And  when you have a little bit of mystery, you don't want to be a  one-dimensional bowler and bowl with the same speed. You  need something different, the pace variation and the accuracy as well. So, I think he has worked on both of them and now you see that he is getting a lot of wickets and getting more often as well which is a good sign for us as a team." 

India has been lucky to get leg spinners on a consistent basis. There was Subhash Gupte who was considered as the best of his time by Sir Garry Sobers. Then came Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, a terrific leg spinner who plotted India's first Test win in England in 1971. Then of course Narendra Hirwani and Anil Kumble, India's highest wicket taker in Test cricket. There were others like Chandu Borde, V.V. Kumar,  Laxman Sivaramakrushnan, Sairaj Bahutule, Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla and Yuzvendra Chahal. 

Chakravarthy, who began playing serious cricket at the age of 26, has already made a big impact in the IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders. His ODI  career has just begun. And what an impact he has made - taking a fifer in only his second match !. 

Leg spinners make one and all curious, and  Chakravarthy, with his unique style has always drawn the attention of the layman and the discerning. 

He said after his first five wicket haul in ODI: " Basically the ball goes inside, outside and goes straight. So, you can keep it that way, but there are minute changes that you can do with that also. That minute changes depend on the pitch totally and as I told you, the one going away, one coming in and one that goes straight. So, you can have some certain variations with that. It depends on the batter and depends on the time and how and when you bowl as in how the ball is. If it's very old, you can try certain variations."