DUBAI: Varun Chakravarthy erased his painful Dubai memories with a match-winning five-wicket haul against New Zealand, but the India spinner admitted feeling “nervous” ahead of his opening spell due to the “emotions” running through his mind.

The 33-year-old had figures of 4 for 33 in a 10-wicket drubbing by Pakistan during the 2021 T20 World Cup here, but four years later he registered 5 for 42 as India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs in the Champions Trophy to top group A here on Sunday.

“In 2021, I didn’t have a great tournament here. But it looks good right now. I was a little nervous ahead of my first spell (vs NZ). The emotions were playing (in mind) because of whatever happened three years before at this ground,” said Chakravarthy in the post-match press conference.

Chakravarthy, who replaced rested Harshit Rana in the playing eleven, said a chat by the senior pros helped him to “calm down”.

“They (emotions) were playing with me and I was trying to keep it down, control it. But Virat bhai, Rohit and Hardik, were telling me to calm down. They were coming and talking to me. That really helped,” he added.

Once settled down, Chakravarthy, who made his ODI debut against England last month, had to find a way to shift through the spells unlike in T20Is, where he largely bowls four overs on the trot.