For three years, Varun Chakravarthy was overcome by a burning desire. Having flirted with international cricket, and not very successfully at that time, the architect from Chennai was desperate for a second chance, for another opportunity to show his wares to a wider audience.
A latecomer to competitive cricket, Varun was 27 when he first played for Tamil Nadu, in the Vijay Hazare 50-over Trophy in September 2018. He made it to India’s Twenty20 International team more than two-and-a-half years later, during a tour. from Sri Lanka in July 2021. It was the end of an excellent first season in IPL 2020 for Kolkata Knight Riders, when he took 17 wickets in 13 games, at an impressive economy of 6.84 per over.
He is officially listed as a leg-break / googly bowler with a preference for the latter, but he has a good bag of tricks that contribute to the bamboozlement of batters of all classes. It was no surprise that the ‘mystery spinner’ tag was quickly attached to him, a tag that was further extended by his 18 wickets for KKR in IPL 2021.
Varun did not have an outstanding tour in Sri Lanka, taking two wickets in 11.3 overs in three matches, but his economy rate of just over 5 and a pedigreed propensity to dismiss batters earned him a berth in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup. in the UAE in October-November 2021. Raised ahead of Tamil Nadu senior spinner R. Ashwin, who finished wicketless in India’s first two losses, to Pakistan and New Zealand respectively. By failing to take a wicket against Scotland as well, Varun finished the World Cup without success. At that time, he had not taken a wicket in the last five T20Is, which led to him being dropped from the Indian team.
His hard work led to IPL 2022 when he had his worst season since his debut for Kings XI Punjab in 2019, 11 matches yielding just six scalps. To make matters worse, he went on 8.51 runs per pass. Game over, the experts tut-tutted.
It might be tempting for Varun to move on, to put it all away, because he’s already equipped for an alternative career, with an engineering degree, and cricket doesn’t really appeal to him. But showing that he is made of tougher stuff, Varun went back to the drawing board, making a conscious decision to reinvent himself and bring out a more dangerous, rounded and deadly version in IPL 2023.
Transformation
In that edition, he was a bowler. The zip is back, the bite is cutting, immediate success. He finished with 20 wickets for the season, then topped it with 21 in IPL 2024, one of the key driving forces behind KKR’s charge for a third title, a decade after their second success in 2014. It helped when KKR won the title again. this summer, in the dugout as a mentor from the team of former captain Gautam Gambhir. In a few months after the victory, Gambhir will become the head coach of the Indian team. Varun’s fortunes, shaped mainly by his lethal right arm, took a turn for the better.
Immediately after defeating Bangladesh 2-0 in the Test series, India have to play three T20Is against the same side, before the three-match Test match against New Zealand. This is the cue for Varun to return to the national set-up. In his first appearance for the country in 35 months, after losing 86 T20Is, Varun snaffled three for 31 in Gwalior; in Delhi three nights later, he was even more impressive in taking two for 19 of the full quota. Welcome, Varun Chakravarthy.
Almost a month later, when the Indian Test team was licking its wounds after a 0-3 home drubbing by New Zealand, VVS Laxman flew out as head coach of Suryakumar Yadav’s outfit for the four-match T20I series in South Africa. Varun was on board, of course, and extended his recent international success by finishing with three for 25 in four overs in the opener in Durban to seal India’s victory.
The next game was even more productive from an individual point of view, Varun cementing his return with five for 17 at Gqeberha. His personal excitement was marred by a disappointing three-wicket loss in a low-scoring match, but Varun can take pride in the fact that, single-handedly, he made India’s modest 124 for six look even more formidable.
Process
So, what has changed with Varun? How did he find it again? “I had to go to the drawing board and check all my videos. I figured out that I was bowling sidespin and it couldn’t come out at a higher level,” Varun said in the immediacy of his fifer. “I had to change everything about my bowling. It took two years and I started bowling in the local league and the IPL as well. It works there and I have started bowling at the international level and it works for me.
“My overspin bowls more bite from the pitch and I hope I can continue to do that and I hope I can continue to contribute to the country.”
On Wednesday night, as India cruised to an 11-run win at Centurion in game three, Varun took a serious tap, conceding 54 in four overs. But the two wickets he snared, Reeza Hendricks and captain Aiden Markram, swelled the tally of scalps to tie for ten, making him the first Indian bowler to take at least ten wickets in a bilateral T20I faceoff.
Varun is now 33 and will be the first to admit that he is neither the fastest mover nor the fittest soul in Indian blood. Many have had to do with the last entry into competitive football, but what they may lack in agility, they more than make up for in skill. It has brought this man far; how much more remains to be seen.
At some stage in 2025, possibly after the IPL in the summer, India’s focus will be on the 2026 T20 World Cup, which it will co-host with Sri Lanka. As the defending champions playing at home, India will feel the heat. He will feel the need to assemble a cracking outfit that can emulate Rohit Sharma’s Class of 2024. Whether Varun is part of that cracking outfit, time, fitness and his thought process seven months from now will decide.
Varun knows that if he keeps beating batters – sidespin, overspin or no spin – he will continue to feature heavily in all discussions about team selection. Beyond that, it’s out of control. He cannot influence the ideology and philosophy of the decision-making group, although he will be comfortable being in Gambhir’s sphere of influence.
For the Indian head coach, Varun is not a defensive and run-less option, but an attacking and wicket-taking resource. “He coached the team when we played against Bangladesh and we talked a lot,” Varun said. “He gave me a lot of role clarity. He said, ‘Even if you get 30-40 runs, it doesn’t matter. You just have to find wickets. That’s your role in the team’. The clarity he gave definitely helped me.
There is huge competition for a place in the Indian T20I landscape, with many options for each slot. Despite Ravindra Jadeja’s retirement from the 20-over international game, India have a wealth of spinners to choose from, ranging from Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav to Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi, among others. This depth is great from India’s point of view as there is insurance against injuries that don’t last long or inappropriate form. It is also good for individuals concerned if they choose to look at it from a positive perspective – it does not help one to keep raising the bar of healthy competition, which is exactly what is in abundance in Indian cricket at the moment right format, New Zealand crash-and-burn though.
Varun’s evolution as a cricketer also led to minor changes in his outer personality. In the past, they did not celebrate taking wickets with enthusiasm or gusto and a world that emphasizes ‘body language’ quickly flooded social media with misplaced negative opinions. It’s unlikely that Varun responded, but he showed more emotion on the cricket field than ever before. Whether it’s good or not is beside the point; it’s just different, like most of Varun today.
There are no live T20I games for India after Friday’s final match against the Proteas in Johannesburg. But not long from now, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy inter-nation T20 tournament will be underway, which will be a perfect preparation for the short series against England in January-February, before the 50-over Champions Trophy. Unless the dynamic changes in the next few months, Varun will be out in the middle trying to outfox and outwit the Englishman as he tries to keep up the ‘must have’ list in the team’s think-tank.
Ashwin is the clear leader in the art of redefining himself and expanding his repertoire, but he also created a small spin revolution in Chennai with Washington and Varun taking cues from the playbook and developing and growing as wicket-takers in their own right. . Now, how pleasing that must be for a slippery off-spinner.
Published – November 14, 2024 22:22 IST
