Varun Chakaravarthy is no stranger to the T20 World Cup. Nearly four and a half years back, he figured in the 2021 edition in the United Arab Emirates, picked as a ‘mystery’ option which unravelled spectacularly as he went wicketless in three matches and played himself out of international cricket for three years.
A late entrant to the sport, the architect from Chennai used that disappointment to add multiple tricks to his craft. Sidespin was complemented by overspin and therefore bounce, and he worked relentlessly on attacking the stumps. Emerging as a more potent weapon, he worked his way back into the reckoning following a bushel of wickets for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
Chakaravarthy’s second coming as an international cricketer can be attributed almost entirely to Gautam Gambhir succeeding Rahul Dravid as the head coach following India’s glorious, victorious campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Gambhir had, just months prior to his appointment to the India job, watched Chakaravarthy weave his magic from close quarters as KKR’s mentor and wasted little time in bringing the ace in his pack back to country vs country battles.
Chakaravarthy didn’t disappoint his benefactor. In his first game back, he took three for 31 against Bangladesh, in October 2024. Within the next three months, he picked up five-wicket hauls – both in losing causes – against South Africa and England, respectively. Not long thereafter, he climbed the ladder to establish himself as the No. 1 T20I bowler in the world, a status he has maintained to date.
Brought into the mix for the 50-over Champions Trophy in Dubai last March, the then 33-year-old played a significant role in Rohit Sharma’s men capping their all-win charge with the title. His metronomic consistency, which translated to both a terrific economy and strike rate, set him up as one of India’s key bowling weapons at the ongoing World Cup, along with the peerless Jasprit Bumrah.
Chakaravarthy began this World Cup with typical chutzpah, grabbing nine wickets in four league fixtures while conceding just 62 in 12 overs. Three wickets apiece against Namibia in New Delhi and Netherlands in Ahmedabad indicated a bounty in the Super Eights, but come the second stage, and Chakaravarthy hasn’t been the same force.
In 12 overs against South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies combined, he has taken just three wickets for 122 runs; an economy in excess of 10 and a wicket every 24 deliveries are in stark contrast to career figures of 7.23 runs per over and 12.9 balls per wicket over 43 T20Is. Chakaravarthy has been taken for seven fours and eight sixes. South Africa chose to treat him almost like a medium-pacer, like teams had unsuccessfully tried to do for a vast part of Anil Kumble’s career, and West Indies relied on their power even when they were beaten in the air. To his credit, Chakaravarthy did not succumb to pressure despite the batters going hard, but that’s only to be expected of someone as skilled and experienced as he is.
The leg-spin/googly bowler is India’s highest wicket-taker with 12 scalps – only Shadley van Schalkwyk and Blessing Muzarabani have more wickets with 13 – and is going at 7.66 an over, which seems uncharacteristically high but stems from bowling on good batting tracks in the Super Eights where the opposition fashioned team totals of 187, 184 and 195 respectively. From the outside, there are murmurs about his waning effectiveness, but the team isn’t unduly worried. It has implicit faith in Chakaravarthy’s match-winning abilities and knows that everyone is allowed the odd, iffy game or three, especially in a format where batters are increasingly more and more fearless and think little of taking anyone on.
Chakaravarthy is what the pundits would call a ‘keen student of the game’, and like his Chennai spinning mate R Ashwin, is constantly on a quest to keep improving as a bowler and a competitor. He is the first at every optional training session, bowling at untenanted stumps for long periods. In Kolkata, he had only Tilak Varma for company at the optional training session a day before the West Indies game; on Wednesday in Mumbai, Chakaravarthy was one of four players – alongside Tilak, Rinku Singh and Washington Sundar – to hit the nets at the Wankhede, once again wheeling away under the eagle eyes of bowling coach Morne Morkel.
Chakaravarthy’s temperament is second to none – he doesn’t go over the top in celebration, nor does he beat himself up after a bad over or an ordinary spell; if anything, he is his worst critic and expects the world of himself every time he is summoned to the bowling crease. “He’s got the ability to take a wicket almost every ball,” Morkel observed. “If he goes for a boundary or the ball, (it means) he’s not executed as well as possible. He’s a highly skilled guy, hard to pick when you walk into the middle. It’s just about getting that confidence with the ball, getting his speed, his length, control right, and not trying to overthink it. He wants to be a big performer for the team, so he’ll put a little bit of pressure on himself. But he’s a match-winner.”
It’s inconceivable that in the last week, Varun Chakaravarthy wouldn’t have pored over videos to work out where and how batters have attacked him. He has fond memories of his last tango against England – 14 wickets in five T20Is in January 2024 – and will dig into his memory bank to recall what worked for him. Despite the last three outings, he remains an immense threat. If there are no frown lines on the faces of the Indian think-tank when it comes to Chakaravarthy, it’s because they are convinced that he is only one over away from invoking his strike-force status.
