T20 World Cup 2021 Player profile: Varun Chakravarthy
Tamil Nadu and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy is all set to don the Indian jersey for his first ICC T20 World Cup. The 30-year-old architect-turned-cricketer has turned heads in the IPL, TNPL and Indian domestic cricket for Tamil Nadu, and even made his India debut in Sri Lanka during the three-match bilateral T20 rubber earlier this year.
In three matches of international cricket, Chakravarthy was unable to make heads turn as he picked up just two wickets, although he bowled with a miserly economy of 5.30. Overall across T20 games, the mystery spinner has picked up 38 wickets from 33 games at a phenomenal economy rate of 6.60, with his best figures of 5/20 coming against the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020.
Varun Chakravarthy's T20 form in the last 10 games
Chakravarthy has been a crucial part of KKR's dream comeback in the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Along with veteran Sunil Narine, he has played a huge role in opposition teams crumbling under pressure to cede the advantage to KKR.
Starting the UAE leg of IPL 2021 with a match-winning three-for against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chakravarthy has been extremely consistent, conceding less than seven runs per over in all nine games KKR have played in the second half of the tournament.
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In his most recent game, Qualifier 2 of the IPL Playoffs against the Delhi Capitals, he was KKR's best bowler with figures of 2/26, which could have been even better had he not overstepped and given Shimron Hetmyer a life. Chakravarthy picked up the key wickets of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan and looks in fantastic touch heading into the T20 World Cup.
Prior to the UAE leg of the IPL, Chakravarthy was part of a forgettable game for Team India, as the visitors mustered a paltry score of 81 from their full quota of overs against Sri Lanka. He was dismissed for a duck from two balls and went wicketless as a highly inexperienced, makeshift Indian side was rolled over by the Sri Lankans.
Despite the poor showing by the team as a whole, Chakravarthy saved face by bowling at an economy rate of just 4.3, giving the world an inkling of his fighting spirit in a hopeless situation.
Why Varun Chakravarthy is crucial to the Indian side
Picked in the India squad for T20 World Cup 2021 as one of just two specialist spinners alongside Rahul Chahar, Chakravarthy appears to be a certainty in the playing eleven for India barring any injury concerns. Unlike Ravichandran Ashwin and Chahar, the Tamil Nadu man is in superb form in conditions similar to what India will encounter during the T20 World Cup 2021.
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List of T20 World Cup winners is available here, see which teams have won so far.
During the UAE leg of the IPL, KKR have managed 29 wickets during the middle overs at an economy rate of 6.19, in no small part due to Chakravarthy's control and wicket-taking threat.
With the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja not appearing in prime wicket-taking form, India will need Chakravarthy to strike whenever called upon, whether in the powerplay or during the middle overs, to supplement the in-form Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah to maintain the pressure on the opposition.