Varun Chakravarthy was a revelation in India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai. The spin bowler had a forgettable T20 World Cup in the same venue in 2021. But he returned to the desert to make it a memorable campaign for himself and his team. His return of nine wickets in three matches, including a 5/42 against New Zealand in the group stage, was instrumental.
Varun and India’s former bowling coach Bharat Arun go back a long way. Both are from Tamil Nadu and they are familiar with the ways of each other. Arun was at the helm when the spinner made it into the Indian team. Those were learning times for the engineer in architecture. It took him a while to get accustomed to the demands of international cricket. He struggled, but eventually, made a telling impact while representing the country.
“He definitely looked a bit overawed,” Arun was quoted as saying by the media in India. “He was scared of even telling Virat Kohli what field setting he wanted. He ended up bowling to the field given to him.”
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This is an understated part of contemporary cricket. Bowlers usually choose the field placements they want. Only the greenhorns go by what they are told.
It didn’t take long for Varun to realise that he is the boss of his own game. He should tell the captain what he wants. “Look at him now,” noted Arun. “He is a totally different cricketer. We say cricket at the elite level is 90 percent mental and Varun stands true for it. He now knows what to do when given the ball. He is setting his own field, because he believes in himself more.”
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This belief was visible in all the games Varun played in the Champions Trophy. A surprise and late entrant to the squad as the fifth spin option, he was not fielded in the first two games, against Bangladesh and Pakistan. But it always seemed that he will be there in the XI as that proverbial X factor. He is an unknown element to many teams, which could be a deadly factor in crunch games.
That’s what the 33-year-old delivered. He tossed tricks at the batters which they could not decipher. He bowled more googlies than conventional leg-breaks and kept playing on the minds of the batters. They found it difficult to read him off the pitch as well as off the hand. In the end, India found a trump card to outwit the opposition in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
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