Mumbai: Having gone wicket-less in three matches, leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s career looked over after a forgettable 2021 ICC T20 World Cup campaign. It was only his second international assignment, having played three T20s against Sri Lanka before that. Overall, he has two wickets in six T20 internationals.
An IPL find, he had caught the attention of the selectors for his unconventional style of bowling and variations, with 17 and 18 wicket seasons in 2020 and 2021. But when you are thrust straight into an India versus Pakistan World Cup game in a packed arena, it can test the nerves of the most hardened pros.
In the middle of the Dubai International Stadium on October 24, 2021, Chakravarthy was like a fish out of water, as he looked listless in front of Pakistan openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. After the tournament, he was never picked again so one could never make out if it was the case of stage fright or being out of depth at the international stage. A poor 2022 IPL season didn’t help. A shadow of his earlier version in the T20 league, he had meagre six wickets in 11 games.
Though he regrouped in 2023 IPL to pick an impressive tally of 20 wickets in 14 games for Kolkata Knight Riders, the selectors weren’t convinced if he could make an impact at the international stage. He did well to back it up with another blockbuster performance in the 2024 edition where he picked 21 wickets to finish as the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Even then, we don’t know whether his rich haul would have been enough to convince the selectors.
But to his benefit, the coaches, Gautam Gambir and Abhishek Nayar, in the IPL side he was playing for — were appointed to the India national team. Both Gambhir and Nayar know what Chakravarthy brings to the table. The 33-year-old leg-spinner was their key weapon in their spectacular run to the IPL title earlier this year, turning up a series of big performances in games that mattered.
In the league stage, he had acted as the catalyst in KKR’s both games against Mumbai Indians. After taking 2/22 off four overs at the Wankhede Stadium, at Eden Garden, he landed a double blow with prized scalps of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya to finish with 2/17 off four overs.
He turned up such performances consistently by proving big breakthroughs. In the Qualifier 1 at Ahmedabad, when Sunrisers Hyderabad were looking to consolidate through their dangerous power-hitter Heinrich Klaasen in the company of Rahul Tripathi lifting their score from 39/4 to 101, the KKR leggie came and removed Klaasen (32 runs off 21 balls).
While he benefitted from Gambhir’s approach of providing role clarity to his players, Chakravarthy has also spoken about the importance of the role played by Nayar in his game. Apart from being the assistant coach at KKR, Nayar had worked throughout the year with Chakravarthy and other players as KKR’s academy coach.
Spelling out details of the process behind the leg-spinner’s resurgence, Nayar said in an IPL press conference: “We (had) discussed quite a bit what went wrong (in 2022), also when you play season after season, teams tend to target you differently… there’s a stark difference in the way he is using the deliveries which are going away a lot more than he was using them last year.”
The former Mumbai and India all-rounder said they countered the batters by working on Chakravarthy imparting more revs on the ball, in turn extracting more bounce and generate speed off the pitch.
For Chakravarthy, having a clear challenge in front helps him thrive. During an interview with the IPL broadcaster, asked about his sensational form, he said: “I definitely tend to bowl better when I have a challenge in front of me, or I may try something different and I may father there. If I know what I have to do, I do better.”
In the upcoming series against Bangladesh, Chakravarthy may not get to play right away but he should get his chance. It will also help to determine if the World Cup flop show was a case of stage fright or being out of depth at the international stage.