Former India batsman and Chennai Super Kings’ star Suresh Raina believes mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy will be the "main guy in the attack" when the Virat Kohli-led side begin their campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup against Pakistan on October 24.

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Playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, Chakravarthy made life difficult for batters and had a haul of 18 wickets from 17 games, with an economy of just over 6.5. With his best figures of 3/13 in IPL 2021, the 30-year-old -- who plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket -- was placed joint sixth with 18 wickets on the 'Purple Cap' list.

Raina said he had high hopes from Chakravarthy.

"My experience in the IPL was that the wickets in UAE and Oman will be very, very challenging when it comes to the mystery spinners. That makes Varun Chakravarthy the main guy in the India bowling attack. He has showed he can exploit the pace of the pitches. Varun has only played three T20Is but I'm not concerned by any lack of experience," said Raina in his column for the ICC.


Raina also said that the Indian pace attack has plenty of experience and the inclusion of Shardul Thakur will give extra strength to the pacers that skipper Virat Kohli has at his disposal.


“There is plenty of experience in this team, particularly in the seam attack. Bhuvneshwar Kumar in particular leads the way when it comes to experience and knowledge of how to deal with the big games. The inclusion of Shardul Thakur can also give extra strength to the fast bowlers that Virat has at his disposal,” said Raina.

"We have been waiting for this T20 World Cup for a long time. It has been a difficult two years but I think we're about to see something special in the UAE and Oman."