Varun Chakaravarthy

Varun Chakaravarthy comes from David Hussey’s school of late bloomers and made his Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu debut in the 2018-19 season, as a 27-year-old.

At the age-group cricket, Varun was a wicketkeeper-batsman but faced a roadblock in his first attempt. He dropped the idea of becoming a cricketer to become an architect. The job of an architect didn’t excite him much and it was only then, he decided to try his luck in cricket. The spinner made a return to cricket in 2018. 

The Tamil Nadu-based spinner was spotted for the plethora of variations by Kings XI Punjab and subsequently was picked up by the franchise in the IPL 2019 auction for a mammoth INR 8.5 crore, which was 42 times his base price of INR 20 lakh.

Varun debuted against KKR in the IPL 2019 but was taken to the cleaners by Sunil Narine in his very first over of the IPL career. A finger fracture ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament and was out for a fairly long time. However, as the saying suggests, ‘fortune favors the brave’, Chakaravarthy became a millionaire yet again. Kolkata Knight Riders bought the mystery spinner for INR 4 crores for the 2020 season and the Karnataka-born didn’t disappoint. 

The mystery spinner had a sensational 2018-19 domestic season for his state team where he impressed many with seven different variations. However, after failing in IPL 2019, Varun could not have asked for any better partner than Narine for his maiden stint with KKR.

KKR team management showed faith in the spinner as he played ahead of the chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. He ended the season with 17 wickets to his name, including a fifer against Delhi Capitals. 

After a successful season, the spinner earned his maiden international call-up for the T20I against Australia Down Under in 2020-21 but unfortunately missed the tour due to injury. He was recalled for the home T20Is against England in early 2021, but the spinner again missed the tour after failing the fitness test. 

Chakaravarthy could be India’s surprise package for the 2021 World T20 to be played at home. However, for that to happen, the mystery spinner would be eyeing to maintain his fitness and grab a good number of wickets in the IPL. 

(As of March 2021)