Several domestic and unknown players feature every year in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and showcase their supreme talent on what is probably the biggest stage in T20 cricket.
Several domestic and unknown players feature every year in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and showcase their supreme talent on what is probably the biggest stage in T20 cricket. Not only do they impress the veterans with their sublime skillsets, but some of them also go on to play for the national cricket team of India.
Among the many such players is the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who has been very impressive with the ball in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. The batters have found it difficult to read his variations, with most of them also losing their wicket in the process.
Ever since Varun had featured in the IPL, there have been talks about the mystery element in his bowling, which has troubled even the best of the batters in the competition. While the 31-year-old had a rough IPL season last year, Varun has made a fantastic comeback and is the leading wicket-taker for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
In the 13 innings, Varun Chakravarthy has snared 19 wickets at an average of 20.57 and a strike rate of 15.36 thus far. He also has an acceptable economy rate of 8.03 despite bowling some of the toughest overs for KKR this year.
Before getting sold in the IPL auction, Varun Chakravarthy acted as a net bowler for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), where he troubled almost every CSK batter with his quality variations. While CSK did try to get him during the 2019 auction, they couldn’t seal the deal as Varun’s stocks rose significantly.
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Following CSK’s defeat against KKR last night, Stephen Fleming expressed disappointment in not getting Varun Chakravarthy in the auction.
“It still hurts us that [not being able to buy him at the auction]. He tortured us in the nets for a number of years, but with the auction and the way it is, we couldn’t retain him. And the thing is, with the Tamil Nadu players all around the different teams, they knew about him as well, and we were unable to keep him a secret,” exclaimed Fleming in the post-match press conference.
Stephen Fleming also revealed that the whole team was mighty impressed with what Varun brought to the table, but due to the hike in price, CSK couldn’t include him in the squad.
“We were very excited by him as a talent when he bowled against us in the nets, and we would have loved him. He went for a big price that first year.”
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