Top 5 bowling spells of 2025 Champions Trophy ft. Varun Chakaravarthy

The 2025 Champions Trophy returned after a hiatus of eight years. The 2025 edition of the Champions Trophy was an enthralling one played across two countries, i.e. Pakistan and United Arab Emirates.

The nature of pitches was different across both countries. However, the bowlers, in general, tasted success in the Champions Trophy 2025 and contributed to the success of their team.

Team India won the coveted Champions Trophy 2025 and all their bowlers contributed to the success of the team. On that note, here is a look at the top five bowling spells in Champions Trophy 2025.

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#1 Varun Chakaravarthy (5/42 vs New Zealand)

Varun Chakaravarthy picked up five wickets against New Zealand on 2nd March 2025 - Source: Getty

The mystery spinner did not play in India's first two matches of the Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh and Pakistan. However, he was included in the team that played in their third match against New Zealand.

Chakaravarthy, who was playing only his second ODI, bamboozled the Kiwi batters with his spin. His impact was immediate and returned five wickets.

He picked up the wicket of Will Young (bowled) and followed it up with the wicket of Glenn Philips (leg before wicket). Michael Bracwell (leg before wicket), Mitchell Santner (bowled), and Matt Henry (caught by Virat Kohli) followed suit and the Kiwis were bundled out for 205 chasing a target of 250.

India emerged victorious by 44 runs and Chakaravarthy was named Player of the Match.

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#2 Michael Bracewell (4/26 vs Bangladesh)

Michael Bracewell picked up 4 wickets against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi - Source: Getty

The Kiwi all-rounder was at his miserly best against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. He ended up with figures of 4/26, the best for a New Zealand spinner in all editions of the Champions Trophy.

Bracwell bowled his allotted 10 overs on the trot and had the Bangladesh batters in a spinning web.

His first victim was Tanzid Hasan, and thereafter accounted for Towhid Hridoy and then picked up vital wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah. Bangladesh could not progress much due to the various jolts given by Bracewell and scored 236 for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs.

New Zealand won the game by five wickets and Bracewell was named Player of the Match.

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#3 Azmatullah Omarzai (5/58 vs Bangladesh)

Azmatullah Omarzai picked up five wickets against England in Lahore Source: Getty

Azmatullah Omarzai played a vital role in Afghanistan's historic win against England in the Champions Trophy 2025.

In a high scoring encounter in Lahore, Afghanistan scored 325/7 in 50 overs after batting first. Ibrahim Zadran (177) was the top run getter. Omarzai played a vital innings at the death and played a crucial innings of 41 from 31 balls.

Omarzai then showed his credentials with the ball and picked up five wickets for 58 runs from 9.5 overs and guided his team to a famous win.

He picked up the first wicket of the England innings when he bowled Phil Salt. He thereafter picked up four more wickets during the later stages of the innings. His other victims included the dangerous Jos Buttler, the centurion Joe Root, Jamie Overton, and Adil Rashid.

England were bundled out for 317 and Afghanistan won by a narrow margin of eight runs.

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#4 Mohammad Shami (5/53 vs Bangladesh)

Shami picked up five wickets in India's first game in Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh - Source: Getty

Mohammed Shami was back to his bowling best in India's first match in Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh in Dubai.

Shami picked up five wickets for 53 runs and bowled a match-winning spell. He picked up the wicket of Soumya Sarkar in the very first over of the match and also accounted for Mehidy Hasan Miraz in his first spell. He picked up three more wickets at the death, including Jaker Ali, Tanzim Hasan Shakib, and Taskin Ahmed.

Bangladesh were bowled out for 228 and India won the match by six wickets with 21 balls to spare.

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#5 Matt Henry (5/ 42 vs India)

Matt Henry picked up five wickets against India in Dubai during the group stages - Source: Getty

Matt Henry continued to torment the Indian batters with his pace bowling. On March 2, 2025, he picked up five wickets in his eight overs and restricted India to a score of 249 for nine in 50 overs.

Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya and Mohammad Shami were his victims. He picked up wickets at regular intervals and made sure India did not score a big total.

His heroics went in vain as New Zealand lost the match by 44 runs.