IPL 2021: The dew had a major influence on bowling, reveals KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy has been in fine form in IPL 2021. The Kolkata Knight Riders spinner has picked up seven wickets so far. Chakravarthy has also maintained an economy rate of 7.29 throughout IPL 2021 so far.
In the match against Punjab Kings, Chakravarthy picked up the wicket of Nicholas Pooran with a beautiful delivery and conceded just 24 runs in his spell of four overs. Speaking to Harsha Bhogle during the innings break, the mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu mentioned that the dew made it very difficult to grip the ball.
“The pitch is definitely keeping a low. That’s how it started and it didn’t come on well to the bat but during the last ten overs, the dew really started setting in and there was a lot of dew.
“It was really tough to grip the ball and few balls were slipping and we had to dry each and every ball,” he added.
The lack of grip while bowling can be tough for bowlers, especially spinners. Despite its obvious on-field implications, it can also have a psychological effect on players who might feel unnerved and pressurized because of this particular disadvantage. At such moments, several bowlers have a particular delivery to fall back on in case they get hammered.
When Simon Doull asked Varun Chakravarthy whether he has one particular delivery to fall back on and resort to in times of need, the spinner replied:
“Not really. I make sure I dry the ball so that I can get a grip and bowl anything I want. But still, sometimes, it does play in the mind that there’s too much dew on the ball and it’s slippery. Sometimes, it can slip out.”
"If the conditions help me out, I will use it" - Varun Chakravarthy on a new mystery aspect to his bowling
Varun Chakravarthy had a breakthrough season in IPL 2020. The KKR spinner wreaked havoc on the pitches of UAE and picked up 17 wickets from 13 matches. Batsmen found it very difficult to negotiate with Chakravarthy’s deliveries and the ‘mystery spinner’ became the talk of the town. He was also included in the squad to tour Australia but had to pull out of international duty because of injury issues.
On being asked by Doull, Varun Chakravarthy revealed he was working on a new mystery aspect to his bowling and might decide to use it if conditions allow him to do so later in the tournament.
“I’m working on it but let’s see, if the conditions help me out, I will use it. I need a dry ball for that [laughs].”
Chakravarthy concluded by suggesting that PBKS’ score of 123 was chaseable, and the dew factor would also help KKR batsmen later in the innings.