Varun Chakravarthy had claimed nine wickets from three matches in the triumphant Champions Trophy 2025
Varun Chakravarthy’s comeback into the national team is a great story. The Tamil Nadu spinner made his debut in 2021, played the T20 World Cup in the UAE that year and then disappeared from the selectors’ consideration for the next four years.
Varun went back to the board, worked on his bowling action and sharpened his skills in the next five years in the domestic circuit. By the beginning of 2024 there was no ignoring his impressive numbers in the white-ball tournaments and in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He was selected for the T20I series against Bangladesh at home and it was apparent why he became important after such a long gap.
Varun claimed five wickets in three games in that series, then 12 wickets from four matches in the tour of South Africa and then decimated the visiting England in 2025 with 14 wickets from just five matches.
Even though not present in the preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy 2025, the selection committee was impressed with his variations in length, turn, flight and game adaptability. He was selected for the ODI series against England and made his debut in the second ODI in Cuttack.
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India used the same strategy and used him sparingly in the Champions Trophy and held him off until the last group game against New Zealand where he picked up a five-wicket haul.
It proved to be a great tactic as Varun finished the tournament with nine wickets from three matches as India lifted their third Champions Trophy.
Captain Rohit Sharma even once jokingly said that Varun just bowls one type of delivery in the nets which makes him difficult to read. In an interview with Sportstar, the spinner clarified that he does bowl variations but changes up the order.
“That’s not true. I’ve already clarified this before. It’s not that I don’t use all my variations, I do. It’s just that I sequence them differently in ODIs compared to T20s. In T20s, I rely more on certain deliveries, while in ODIs, I use others more often. That’s all there is to it,” Varun said.
When asked if he feels it is wise to keep his variations a secret during preparation for matches, Varun said that there is enough video footage of his bowling for opponents to analyse and find solutions to.
“I don’t think there’s anything to keep secret anymore. Everyone knows what I bowl. It’s all out there in the media and video analysis. I rely more on the natural variation from the pitch and my own decision-making — knowing what to bowl and when. So no, I don’t focus on being secretive now,” the KKR spinner said.
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