Ravichandran Ashwin had made the plea while he was playing for Punjab Kings (Formerly Kings XI Punjab).
Punjab Kings (PBKS), runners-up of IPL 2025, have been left to rue Ravichandran Ashwin’s final plea to not release Varun Chakravarthy before IPL 2020. At the IPL 2019 auction, Punjab Kings (Then Kings XI Punjab), had acquired Varun Chakravarthy for INR 8.4 crore.
He made his IPL debut for Kings XI Punjab against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2019, but that would be the only match he would play that season. The mystery spinner then sustained a finger injury which ruled him out of the rest of the tournament.
That was also the only game that Varun Chakravarthy played for Kings XI Punjab, before being released after the IPL 2019 season. He was later acquired by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 4 crore, and would go onto win the IPL title with the franchise in 2024.
However, Ravichandran Ashwin, who was the captain of Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2019, revealed that he had requested Kings XI Punjab to not release Varun Chakravarthy after that season, despite having played just one match because of the injury. Ravichandran Ashwin himself was traded to Delhi Capitals (DC) after the IPL 2019 season.
MPS
175/6
PAL
174/8
MDS
146/9
HS
150/5
Hindukush Strikers beat Maiwand Champions by 5 wickets
NAM
260/10
ASM
325/7
Assam beat Namibia by 65 runs
ALW
110/6
ASA
109/10
Alembic Warriors beat Ami Super Avengers by 4 wickets
BMP
–
CCYMT
–
BSP
–
MAR
–
MAR
–
BMP
–
CCYMT
–
BSP
–
MAR
–
BSP
–
OCC-W
–
SKK-W
133/5
Match Abandoned due to rain
SKK-W
20/1
PCS-W
19/2
SKK Women beat PCS Women by 9 wickets
EL-W
129/0
OCC-W
–
Match abandoned due to rain
SKK-W
61/0
EL-W
58/1
SKK Women beat Empire Lionesses Women by 10 wickets
TYP-W
116/7
SCO-W
120/3
Scorchers Women beat Typhoons Women by 7 wickets
SCO-W
124/9
DGW-W
127/1
Dragons Women beat Scorchers Women by 9 wickets
DGW-W
–
TYP-W
–
ENGU19
–
INDU19
–
GUC
145/9
THN
147/1
YSS
–
LEX
–
MR
162/7
MB
86/10
Malaysia Reds won by 76 runs
GG
–
MR
–
LAKR
202/4
SOR
206/5
Seattle Orcas beat Los Angeles Knight Riders by 5 wickets
TSKS
–
MINY
–
ENGA-W
130/4
NZA-W
129/10
England Women A beat New Zealand Women A by 6 wickets
YUC
130/8
IRSCC
141/7
Irises Cricket Club beat Yuksom Capitals by 11 runs
PYXI
157/5
BES
95/3
Black Eagles beat Pakyong XI by 4 runs (VJD method)
CAO
–
BES
–
ALSC
–
IRSCC
–
PTS
117/3
BMB
90/8
Piton Strikers beat Bamboo Blasters by 27 runs
WTS
109/2
AMW
125/4
IYH
–
PTS
–
BMB
–
WTS
–
IDTT
182/5
NRK
113/10
IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans won by 69 runs
DID
150/6
TGC
151/6
Trichy Grand Cholas beat Dindigul Dragons by 4 wickets
“Before I moved on to Delhi on trade, we were having a board meeting. I said it’s okay, you guys can do whatever you want. But don’t let this guy go. As luck would have it, you went, KKR picked you, and you guys became the champions (In 2024),” Ravichandran Ashwin told Varun Chakravarthy during an episode of Kutti Stories, a show hosted by Ashwin himself.
In his IPL debut match in 2019, Varun finished with figures of 1/35 from three overs. That turned out to be a match-winning spell as Kings XI Punjab defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 28 runs.
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Fast forward to IPL 2024, Varun went on to play a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title triumph. He ended as the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets from 15 matches at an economy rate of 8.04.
Till date Varun Chakravarthy has taken 99 wickets for Kolkata Knight Riders from 82 matches across six seasons. In May this year, the 33-year-old became the joint-fastest spinner to reach 100 IPL wickets. He did so in 83 matches, which was the same number of matches that Amit Mishra and Rashid Khan took for their milestones.
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Mahipar Stars won by 4 wickets