Varun Chakravarthy, left, and India captain Suryakumar Yadav during the T20 series against England. Photo: AP Varun Chakravarthy, left, and India captain Suryakumar Yadav during the T20 series against England. Photo: AP He was at the crossroads of his T20 career in 2022. A poor season with the Kolkata Knight Riders and not in favour with the national selectors, Varun Chakravarthy could have well slipped into oblivion as several mystery spinners have done in the past. (More Cricket News)
But a couple of years later, not only did the leg spinner play a pivotal role in leading his IPL franchise to their third title, but he also made a stupendous comeback in the national team and is currently the best T20I spinner for India.
We look at Varun Chakravarthy 2.0 in T20 cricket.
Most wickets in a series by an Indian bowlerChakravarthy picked up 14 wickets in just five matches at a brilliant average of 9.85 and strike rate of 7.7 against England, playing the pivotal role with the ball in his country’s comprehensive 4-1 drubbing of the visitors. He set a record for the most wickets for an Indian bowler in a bilateral T20I series and was adjudged the Player of the Series for his efforts.
Incidentally, the previous record was also held by Chakravarthy, who had picked 12 wickets against South Africa in an away series in November last year.Only Jason Holder has picked more wickets in a bilateral series than the maverick Indian leg spinner – the West Indian pacer bagged 15 wickets against England in 2022.
The first match of the final round of group matches took place between Korea and Malaysia and resulted in a 3-3 draw. The splitting of points confirmed Korea's qualification to the semifinal. The draw also ensured that Pakistan would finish second in the group regardless of their result in their last group match against India.
Varun Chakravarthy in action during the T20I series against England. Photo: AP Varun Chakravarthy in action during the T20I series against England. Photo: AP Consistency and conquering all phases of playChakravarthy was phenomenally consistent, returning with at least two wickets in each of his outings in the series. Although he bagged five wickets at Rajkot, his highest impact performance came at his favourite hunting ground – Eden Gardens in the series opener – where he saw the back of Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler, breaking the backbone of the England top-order, completely turning the match on its head. That performance set the tone for the remainder of the series.
Chakravarthy was exceptional in all three phases in the series against England. He was restrictive in the powerplay where he delivered four overs and conceded just 27 runs at an economy of just 6.8. He bagged nine wickets in the middle overs at an average of 9.4 and strike rate of 7.3 while also picking four wickets at an economy of 8.7 at the death. Interestingly, all 14 of his wickets were right-handers, against whom he averaged 8.1 in the series.
Showcasing his varietyChakravarthy got eight wickets through his stock delivery – the googly – at a magnificent average of 8.5 and strike rate of 6.4. However, unlike in the past where he has relied more on side-spin, Chakravarthy 2.0 has worked on his conventional leg-break and is now a more complete master of the art.
He has learnt to use more over-spin on his deliveries which is helping him in being a more traditional leg spinner. Three of Chakravarthy’s wickets in the series came with the leg-break. He also used variations in pace and the flipper to good effect.
Spinning KKR to victoryChakravarthy did not have a great outing for India in his debut year in 2021 when he picked just two wickets in six matches at an average of 66. After a couple of productive seasons with KKR in 2020 and 2021, the mystery behind the ‘mystery’ spinner somewhat diminished and he had a tough season with the franchise in 2022 – bagging just six wickets in 11 matches at an average of 55.3. Chakravarthy was even benched for a few matches.
The leg spinner went back to the drawing board, put in the hard yards and altered his craft to return a more complete and holistic leg spinner. It has brought him rich dividends as the leggie is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL (combined) of the last two seasons. He has picked a total of 41 wickets in 28 innings in IPL 2023 and 2024 at an average of 20.26, strike rate of 15 and economy of 8.09.
Chakravarthy has been amongst the wickets and also been very restrictive even as spinners bore the brunt of the batters’ onslaught in IPL 2024. He was the highest wicket-taker for KKR in their historic triumph last season.
The highest wicket-taker in T20Is since India comebackChakravarthy made a comeback to the Indian unit in the home series against Bangladesh in October 2024 and since then has been in a class of his own. He is the leading wicket-taker in the world in this time-frame with 31 dismissals in just 12 innings at an astonishing average of 11.25 and strike rate of 8.9. He has also been very economical conceding, just 7.58 runs per over during this period.
If Chakravarthy continues in this vein, he will be India’s main threat with the ball as they defend their T20 World Cup title at home and in Sri Lanka next year.
bwo99 slotBut for nowqueen9play, his stupendous returns in T20 cricket have earned him a spot in India’s ODI squad to face England in the three-match series. Do not be surprised if he also finds himself on the plane to Dubai for the Champions Trophy and makes his mark on the marquee event.
