Varun Chakravarthy, after being dropped from the Indian cricket team, went back to the basics and made significant changes to his bowling technique. Reflecting on his learnings from his first stint with the team, Varun Chakravarthy shared the details of his journey.
India spinner Varun Chakravarthy registered his career-best figures of 5 for 17 in the second T20I against South Africa, though his efforts could not prevent India from losing the game. Playing against South Africa in Gqeberha, Varun Chakravarthy was one of India’s high points in an otherwise miserable game, where they lost by 3 wickets in a low-scoring thriller.
Varun Chakravarthy continued his superb run in this series where he has 8 wickets already in 2 matches. The Kolkata Knight Riders spinner spoke about his incredible comeback under the Suryakumar Yadav-Gautam Gambhir management on the back of his sensational Indian Premier League performance in 2024.
Varun Chakravarthy the star with the ball for India vs SA in T20I series
Varun Chakravarthy made his comeback to the Indian team in the T20I series against Bangladesh at home. On his comeback to the national team, the spinner scalped three crucial wickets. He continued his superb form into this series and has 8 wickets already from 2 games. The spinner spoke about his secret to success and said that both side-spin and over-spin have helped him to become a deadly force in the T20Is.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has emerged as Team India’s reliable weapon in the shortest format of the game. The 33-year-old mystery spinner was the only reason India could dream of winning the second T20I at St. George’s Park in Gqeberha after posting just 124 runs in their 20 over
Varun Chakravarthy’s 5/17 helped India come roaring back into the contest as they had the Proteas on the mat with seven down for 86 on the board. Varun Chakravarthy, 33, brought all his experience into play and got the big wickets of Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller.
If it wasn’t for a few lusty blows that came out of Gerald Coetzee’s willow, India would have sealed the game in their favour and taken an unassailable lead in the series. Varun Chakravarthy has been enjoying a wonderful series in South Africa thus far. He had also registered figures of 3/25 in his four overs in the first T20I of the series at Kingsmead in Durban and played a crucial role in helping the team win by 61 runs.
Notably, Varun Chakravarthy has claimed eight wickets in the ongoing series at an economy rate of 5.25 runs per over. He requires two more wickets to break Ravichandran Ashwin’s record for the most wickets (9) by an Indian in a T20I bilateral series.
R Ashwin had claimed 9 wickets during Sri Lanka’s T20I tour of India in 2016. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi equaled Ashwin’s record during Australia’s T20I tour of India in November-December 2023, by taking eight wickets in the series. With two more T20Is remaining in the ongoing series against South Africa, Varun Chakravarthy has a realistic chance of shattering Ashwin and Bishnoi’s joint record. The third T20I between India and South Africa will be played on Wednesday (November 13) at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Former South African spinner Paul Adams hails Varun Chakravarthy’s ongoing form and tells what the South African Team has to do in the remainder of the matches to counter the spin by Varun Chakravarthy.
Paul Adams on Varun Chakravarthy’s brilliant performance in IND vs SA 2024 T20I series
Former South African left-arm wrist-spinner Paul Adams reckons the Proteas have some work to do when facing Indian leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the remaining two T20Is of the four-match series. Analyzing the Indian spinner’s bowling, Adams opined his control of length has been great, whether he bowls the googly or his leggies.
Varun Chakravarthy made his international debut against Sri Lanka in July 2021 and also featured in the T20 World Cup that year in the UAE. However, he was dropped from the team after a wicketless campaign in the ICC event. The 33-year-old has made a stunning return to international cricket after a gap of three years.
In a virtual interaction arranged by SA20, Adams shared his thoughts on Varun Chakravarthy’s magnificent performance in the ongoing T20I series in South Africa. He said [as quoted by PTI]:
“Yeah, I think his control of length has been great in terms of bowling, his googly and his leggy. So, his release point as well is (at a) very similar height in terms of getting that googly out and the lines.”
“So, his control has been absolutely magnificent in terms of how to challenge the batter’s defense and also they’re not sure in how to line him up in what they’re seeing at the moment,” the former left-arm wrist-spinner added.
“So, the South African side has got some homework to do on how they’re going to play him and how they’re going to go about him in the two matches left,” Adams stated, while concluding his thoughts on the Indian leg-spinner’s success against the Proteas.
Varun Chakravarthy claimed 3-25 in the first T20I against South Africa in Durban and followed up with excellent figures of 5-17 in a losing cause in Gqeberha. Earlier, in the T20I series against Bangladesh at home, which marked his comeback to international cricket, the Tamil Nadu spinner claimed five wickets in three games.
Varun Chakravarthy credits Gautam Gambhir after a successful comeback
Although India lost the second T20I to South Africa in Gqeberha, Chakravarthy won praise for his five-wicket haul. After the game, he credited coach Gautam Gambhir for giving him role clarity. Chakravarthy said (as quoted by HT):
“Yes, we played the Bangladesh tour and he was coaching the team. And definitely we spoke a lot and he gave me a lot of role clarity. He told me, even if you go for 30-40 runs, it doesn’t matter. All you have to look is to pick wickets. So that’s your role in the team. And yeah, the clarity which they gave definitely helped me.”
In 11 T20Is, Chakravarthy has picked up 15 wickets at an average of 16.46 and an economy rate of 5.81.