There was a time when Varun Chakaravarthy would’ve thought to give up on his professional cricketing career. After all, he received massive backlash from fans after a horrible T20 World Cup 2021, where he failed to get any wickets across three games. Next came the IPL 2022, where Chakaravarthy’s downfall continued. For KKR that season, the mystery spinner claimed just six wickets at 55.33.
But putting his head down and being diffident about that phase was never Chakaravarthy’s characteristic. Instead, he went back to the drawing board, worked on his game and came out all guns blazing. The impact is already evident. He is India’s prime spinner in white-ball cricket, a genuine match-winner who claimed the joint-most wickets for India at the ICC Champions Trophy. Now, he has his sights on the next T20 World Cup 2026. But he has Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir to thank. It was the SKY-Gambhir duo that rejuvenated Chakaravarthy’s career.
Suryakumar, the captain, like Rohit Sharma?
Ever since Suryakumar Yadav became the Indian T20I captain, he has backed Varun Chakaravarthy to full tilt. While the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi were the two frontline spinners, Chakaravarthy quickly made the position his own. He revealed how Suryakumar and Gambhir gave him confidence.
Before his international comeback during the home series against Bangladesh, Suryakumar told the mystery spinner that he is keen in having him in the setup. And Chakaravarthy responded brilliantly, claiming five wickets in the series. Following that, India travelled to South Africa and even on foreign conditions, he was remained a mystery. Chakaravarthy ended up as the highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps at an insane strike rate of 8.00.
“Yes, Surya (Kumar Yadav) and Gautam (Gambhir), I feel have played big roles in my comeback because they wanted me. Surya told me before the Bangladesh tour that “I’m looking at you, let’s see how the other things go, but I’m keen on having you in the team set-up”, said Chakaravarthy while speaking to RevSportz.
About Surya, he is someone very similar to Rohit [Sharma] – that’s what I’ve seen. He is a very tactically sound, and maybe his time at MI (Mumbai Indians) has given him good exposure to great captains. He is a very good guy and never puts pressure on the bowlers. It would be a bowler’s delight to have a captain like him.“
What did Gambhir tell Chakaravarthy?
Chakaravarthy, in the same vein, divulged that Gautam Gambhir brings in a warrior mindset in the dressing room. Gambhir, who has always been a team man, has worked more on the mental side of the players, something that Shardul Thakur also alluded to.
“Similarly, Gauti Bhai also has helped me a lot in my comeback, the way he motivates me. Even if we talk little, he has always given me good confidence and he’s always told that “no matter who’s going to ignore you, I will keep you in my plans for now.” So, that kind of gave me confidence. And if you ask about Gauti Bhai as a mentor, then I would say he brings in a warrior mindset in the dressing room, which is very important and has worked for us at KKR and in the Champion Trophy.”
“We even got to see that in the recently concluded England vs India Test series. He brings energy to the dressing room, which is very important. Around him, I always feel there is no mediocrity. You give everything you have and it doesn’t matter whether you win or you lose.
| Player | Inns | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varun Chakaravarthy (IND) | 12 | 31 | 5/17 | 11.25 | 7.58 | 8.9 | 2 |
| Jacob Duffy (NZ) | 13 | 27 | 4/14 | 11.48 | 6.36 | 10.8 | 0 |
| Richard Ngarava (ZIM) | 16 | 25 | 4/16 | 15.56 | 6.86 | 13.6 | 0 |
| Abbas Afridi (PAK) | 13 | 22 | 3/17 | 13.40 | 7.83 | 10.2 | 0 |
| Akeal Hosein (WI) | 17 | 20 | 4/22 | 23.70 | 7.14 | 19.9 | 0 |
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