IND vs PAK – T20: Spin vs Spin — Varun Chakravarthy vs Usman Tariq

When India play Pakistan, people always talk about the major players, but this time the result might depend on something less obvious: which side has the better of the spin bowling in overs which don’t seem exciting on the television. On a pitch which has already been used, these overs can be slow going – until a bad decision results in a wicket and a batting side falling apart.

Therefore, the most interesting part of the game isn’t pace against power; it’s Varun Chakravarthy against Usman Tariq, two bowlers who depend on trickery, breaking a batter’s flow, and making them question what they thought they’d seen just a moment before.

Varun’s style of bowling has improved – more speed, more top-spin, and better accuracy at a good pace. Tariq’s is different: he stops and then bowls, and delivers the ball like a slinger, so it stays low and disturbs a batter’s timing.

If you want to know where the IND vs PAK match might really be won, it’s here – overs 7 to 15, when the pitch holds the ball, the boundary seems a long way away, and the score is starting to cause problems.

Deep Dive

Why Colombo Favours Spin

The pitch at Colombo’s Premadasa isn’t about a lot of spin with every ball. It’s about how the ball gets to the batter – sometimes it stops, sometimes it slides, and often it makes batters hit to large areas and across longer boundaries.

On a pitch which has been used, pace off the pitch is the most important thing. Bowlers who can change speed without giving it away are rewarded in two ways: they get batters to mistime their shots, and they make taking singles risky as batters lose faith in their footwork.

In this situation, mystery spin is a great advantage. Not because it’s magical, but because it reduces the time a batter has to make a decision. If a batter is even a tiny bit late, a ‘safe’ shot becomes a catch, and an attempt to hit the ball becomes an edge to the wicketkeeper.

Varun Chakravarthy’s Middle-Overs Method

Varun isn’t just a ‘mystery spinner with a range of tricks’ now; he’s a ‘mystery spinner who has rebuilt his bowling.’

A key change in his recent play is moving from a lot of side-spin to more top-spin, trying to get speed and bounce off the surface instead of depending on a lot of turn to the side. This matters on sticky pitches: top-spin can still make the ball drop and jump, even if the pitch doesn’t give much turn.

He also bowls quickly for a spinner – about 95 kph – so batters can’t easily go back and wait for the ball. When the pitch is slow, this speed creates a strange middle ground: too quick to hit easily, too slow to treat as pure pace.

Then there’s Varun’s focus on length. His best deliveries aren’t always the ones which spin a lot; they’re the ones which land in a difficult area – neither truly short nor truly full – where you can’t pull, and you can’t confidently come down the pitch.

This is why Varun is so good in the middle overs. He doesn’t need a perfect pitch to be useful; he needs a batter to be unsure.

Usman Tariq’s Low-Release Trap

Usman Tariq’s success has caused a lot of talk – partly because he’s new at this level, partly because his action is unusual, and partly because the ball behaves differently when it comes from his hand than batters expect.

The most important thing is the pause and delivery. He runs up, stops for a moment, then bowls. This break in rhythm isn’t a trick; it’s a trap for timing. Batters judge their movements from the bowler’s run-up, and when the run-up stops, the batter’s body can arrive too early or too late.

The second thing is the slinging action. The ball comes from a lower position, and on some lengths it can feel as though it’s arriving ‘under’ the bat – almost like batting against a series of yorkers, even when the ball isn’t full.

This is why people compare the way he bowls to a slinging fast bowler, even though Tariq is a spinner. It isn’t the speed; it’s the path of the ball and the trickery of where it’s released from.

There’s also the discussion about his action. What’s important on the pitch is that he’s been allowed to bowl, and Pakistan’s team has strongly supported him. The argument doesn’t change what India have to do: watch the ball early, decide on a plan, and not let the newness cause panic.

And Tariq isn’t just a ‘social media mystery.’ He’s already produced match results which matter, including a three-wicket spell against the USA which showed he was more than a curiosity.

Two Different Types of Uncertainty

This is what makes Varun Chakravarthy vs Usman Tariq such a good tactical comparison: both create doubt, but they do it in different ways.

Varun affects your choice of shot. Tariq affects your timing. On a slow pitch, both can be very damaging because the pitch already takes away some timing – these two take away the rest.

How India Are Likely to Use Varun

India don’t need Varun to bowl a ‘nice’ spell. They need him to bowl a spell which makes the batter hate the choice they have to make. If India take a few wickets early on, Varun will be a really useful bowler – with a slip-type field, pressure on the batter, and always having a ball ready to take a wicket. If India don’t get those early wickets, Varun will be a bowler who keeps things tight: bowling good lines, at a good pace, and refusing to give the batters an easy ball to hit.

What’s interesting is when he bowls. Captains usually want to keep mystery spin for the middle of the innings, but against Pakistan’s top players, it makes sense to use Varun as soon as the powerplay is over – especially if the pitch is turning and the ball is coming off the surface.

Pakistan’s best batters like to be steady. Varun is there to stop that.

Also, watch to see if Varun bowls a little slower in Colombo. He’s talked about changing his speed, and even using a bit more bounce on slow pitches with big boundaries. It’s a small but important change: it shows he isn’t only a ‘fast and flat’ bowler.

How Pakistan Will Likely Use Tariq

Pakistan’s best thing to do with Tariq isn’t to hide what he can do. It’s to make the most of how little India’s batters will know about him, before they can work him out.

That might mean bringing Tariq on early – perhaps even in the powerplay if the batters’ strengths and weaknesses allow – because the sooner a batter faces a new problem, the more likely they are to make a mistake as they try to look comfortable.

But the more sensible, and likely, plan is overs 7 to 12, when batters are deciding whether to play safely or start to score faster. This is when Tariq’s unusual action can be most of a problem: batters want to turn the strike over, and turning the strike over needs good timing.

Tariq also makes good field settings possible. Because the ball doesn’t bounce very high, captains can protect against straight hits and encourage batters to hit square – where bad shots will go to the bigger boundaries. If the pitch is slow, this becomes a trap.

Pakistan’s captain has said publicly that Tariq is a ‘trump card’. Usually, that means they’ll give him a lot of responsibility, and they’ll take a little risk with him, because he could take wickets.

The Net Battle and Key Matchups

Most ‘net stories’ aren’t very important. This one is.

India have openly tried to copy Tariq’s bowling action in practice – getting their own players to do the same stutter and late release – because you can’t learn that timing change in the middle of an India versus Pakistan game with the whole stadium making noise.

That preparation shows India think Tariq is a real threat, not just something new. It also shows what India are worried about: not necessarily getting hit for runs, but losing wickets because of being confused.

Pakistan, meanwhile, remember what happened with Varun. In 2021, Varun had a bad night against Pakistan, and that stayed with him for a long time. Since then, he’s rebuilt his bowling, and he’s said he has new plans and new ways of bowling.

So both teams are treating this like an exam with difficult questions. No fuss, just going over what they know.

Matchups: Who is Likely to Do Well, Who is Likely to Struggle

Matchups aren’t certainties, but they give you an idea.

Varun against Babar is like a chess game because Babar often wants time to get settled. Varun doesn’t bowl many easy balls, and on a pitch that’s been used, a batter who starts slowly can quickly find themselves behind the speed the team needs. That’s when mistakes happen.

Varun against Rizwan is about how the ball bounces and how fast it comes. Rizwan is good at knowing where to score early on. Varun’s best chance is to keep changing how the ball feels without changing how his action looks.

Tariq against India’s left-handed batters is where Pakistan will try to get wickets. A low bounce and strange rhythm can encourage left-handers to hit across the line early. If India open with two left-handers, Pakistan might like that matchup on paper.

Tariq against Suryakumar is the most interesting battle. Surya’s strength is scoring in unusual areas and not letting bowlers get comfortable. Tariq’s strength is making ‘normal timing’ seem useless. If Surya works out the rhythm quickly, Tariq’s threat is less. If Surya takes a few balls to get used to it, Pakistan get the pressure they want from dot balls.

How Batters Can Deal With It: The Simple Things, Done Well

Against mystery spin, batters often fail because they go for big shots. The better ways to deal with it are boring – until they win you the match.

Against Varun:

• Pick a place to score early (deep midwicket, long-off, third man – whatever’s available).
• Don’t decide what to do before the ball is bowled. Varun wants you to commit early.
• Use the crease: going further back can give you more time; coming down the pitch can make him bowl a fuller length. The important thing is to do it with confidence, not half-heartedly.

Against Tariq:

• Look at where the ball is released, not his run-up rhythm. The pause is there to put you off your timing.
• Stay still at the crease. Moving too much is a disaster against a low bounce.
• Treat him like a bowler who is always ‘faster than he looks’. You don’t need to hit hard; you need to hit late and cleanly.

In the language of the sub-continent: “don’t rush, but don’t be afraid either”. Calm, but not passive.

Where the Battle Could Decide It

This match probably won’t be decided by who bowls the best spell. It’ll be decided by who takes the wicket that breaks the other team’s innings.

For India, that wicket is often Pakistan’s steady player – someone like Babar or Rizwan who holds the chase together. If Varun gets that batter in the middle overs, Pakistan’s hitters will have to start earlier on a pitch that might not allow easy hitting.

For Pakistan, that wicket is India’s player who can score quickly – someone like Suryakumar or Hardik who can turn 145 into 175 in four overs. If Tariq or his spin partner get that batter, India could get ‘one over short’ of the total they were aiming for.

In other words: the spin versus spin story isn’t something on the side. It’s the thing that will decide the match.