Spinner Varun Chakravarthy proves he is still a potent force | Cricket News – Times of India

CHENNAI: For someone dubbed a ‘mystery spinner’, Varun Chakravarthy’s career so far has panned out more mysteriously than his bowling.
The 31-year-old started out as a wicketkeeper-batter, ditched the sport to pursue architecture, returned later as a seam-bowling allrounder and finally zeroed in on spin bowling.
He was playing fourth-division cricket in Chennai in 2018 when he was called up as a net bowler for the Chennai Super Kings. Five years later, he combined with Kolkata Knight Riders’ team-mate Sunil Narine to outspin CSK at their own den on Sunday.

Over the years, Varun’s career has been anything but smooth, with injuries and technical issues leading to a topsy-turvy ride in international and franchise cricket. This includes a wicketless run in the 2021 T20 World Cup for India.
He also went out of favour in the Kolkata Knight Riders setup in 2022, right after being the leading wicket-taker for them the previous season. He has come back strongly this year, picking up 19 wickets in 13 games so far.
What has made the difference? Experts say it is his newly developed legbreak, and Varun agrees. “Yes, I’ve been working on my leg-spin. Last season, I used to bowl cross-seam leg-spin, but it was not gripping that much, so I thought of mixing up the seam one and the cross-seam one. It’s creating more doubt for the batters,” he said after the KKR win at Chepauk on Sunday.

KKR’s coaching staff brainstormed with Varun after the disappointing season and came up with a plan based on how teams were likely to target him.
“There is a stark difference in how he’s using his deliveries now. He’s using the leg-break a lot more than he was doing last year,” assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said.
Once they analysed and understood the areas where teams were hitting him, it was easier to devise a strategy.
“We spoke about getting more rotations on the ball and getting more bounce and speed off the pitch,” Nayar added.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming has always rated Varun highly and regrets not being able to get him from the auctions.

(AI image)
“It still hurts us. He tortured our batters in the nets for a number of years, but with the auction and the way it is, we couldn’t get him,” he said.
With the Tamil Nadu cricketers playing for different IPL franchises, Fleming added, “They knew about him as well and we were unable to keep him a secret. But we were very excited for him as a talent when he bowled against us in the nets and he went for a big price that first year.”
The former Kiwi skipper acknowledged the key role Varun played in Sunday’s win.
“He went off a little bit and now he has come back. He had some injuries and now he looks fit.”