IPL 2020, Indian Premier League, Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Face-Off: Rishabh Pant vs Varun Chakravarthy

When you think of the top bowlers in IPL 2020, you would not always think of Varun Chakravarthy. The Kolkata Knight Riders 'mystery' bowler, who can send down off-spin, leg-spin and seen assortment of combinations, has however been in the thick of things for his franchise, and KKR would be hoping that he could be an option to handle the potentially explosive Rishabh Pant on the Delhi Capitals ranks when the two teams meet in Sharjah on Saturday. The sheer lack of size of the Sharjah ground tends to make this face-off a little skewed in Pant's favour, but you never know when the mystery bowler is in action.

Chakravarthy has done well for KKR so far. He played only one match in the 2019 edition, but has already doubled his tally this year, with three wickets and an economy of 6.25. His overall figures are four wickets in three matches at the economy of 7.72.

But form seems to be with him and he has some crucial wickets to his name already. The bowlers who scalps David Warner, Rahul Tewatia and Jofra Archer is not to be taken lightly.

Pant has the penchant of playing some superb shots and the getting out to some classic miscues. It has almost become a trademark for him. He has 96 runs from three IPL 2020 matches with a moderate strike rate of 118.51.

This is a far cry from his IPL career strike rate of 159.58, which has come after 57 matches totalling 1832 runs.

So, Pant's slightly dodgy form is surely a chink in his armour and Chakravarthy would be interested, like all bowlers. At the same time, the Delhi and India wicketkeeper would love to get his A game to the table, promising an absorbing face-off.

Note: All stats courtesy iplt20.com

Topics mentioned in this article

Delhi Capitals Kolkata Knight Riders Rishabh Pant Varun Chakravarthy Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah IPL 2020 Cricket Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 16