But the mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu, who has the ability to bowl as many as seven different variations, has not really got going in the ongoing 15th edition of the Indian Premier League. He has played 5 matches in the tournament so far and managed to bag just 4 wickets. In the 20 overs he has bowled so far, he has given away 146 runs, at an economy rate of 7.30.
With KKR, who are currently in second place on the points table, set to face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) later today at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, Varun though is not worried about the quiet start.
Varun Chakravarthy. (BCCI/IPL Photo)
“It is bound to happen. People will have plans against me. It is just the way it is. Last season, in the Indian leg, I had 6 to 7 wickets in 7 matches. Later on, I picked up more wickets. So, you cannot predict how many wickets you are going to get,” Varun said in response to a question by TimesofIndia.com during a media interaction.
“You just can’t predict. It is bound to be like that. I can’t complain much about it. I need to find a way to adapt to the situations better,” the 30 year old further said.
Varun had entered the IPL 2019 auction at a base price of Rs. 20 lakh and was bought by Kings XI Punjab for Rs 8.40 crore, 42 times his base price. He could only feature in one game for Punjab Kings (against Kolkata Knight Riders) though and returned figures of 1/35 in 3 overs before an injury ruled him out of the tournament.
BCCI/IPL Photo
He was released by the Punjab side ahead of the 2020 IPL auction, in which the mystery spinner was bought by KKR for Rs 4 crore. Since then he has become a permanent member of the side. He has played 35 matches for KKR and claimed 39 wickets so far. He was the highest wicket-taker for KKR in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
Varun is banking on a new variation now – ‘leg-spin’ – to take his game to another level. He already has offbreak, legbreak, Googly, Carrom ball, Flipper, Topspinner and slider in his spin armoury.
What other variations do you still have to use in the league?
To this Varun said: “I am working on a (certain kind of) leg spin. I have been working on it for the last two years now”.
“I am quite there and have bowled it in a few matches as well. I have got a wicket out of that also. I am a little more confident about it and bowling that,” he further said.
