TIRUNELVELI: The fruit of hard work is always sweet. For mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who has been one of the most-talked-about players in Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), it took two years to put his skill to use.
He may not be the go-to bowler when captain needs wickets, but Varun is Siechem Madurai Panthers’ secret weapon for stopping runs. He may not feature among the top-10 wicket-takers this season, but he can boast of the most number of dot balls: 79 in seven matches.
What makes Varun a unique bowler is how he has used his variations to effect, as evidenced by his economy of 5.39. He was with Karaikudi Kaalai last season, but played only one match. A regular for Madurai now, he revealed that he has used only four to five variations so far, and is planning to master eight.
Varun was a net bowler for Chennai Super Kings for five days, when they played one match in Chennai this IPL. Later, he was called by Dinesh Karthik to bowl for Kolkata Knight Riders. “Bowling to the likes of Dhoni, Raina and others made me understand a batsmen’s mindset in T20s. When I was with KKR for two weeks, Sunil Narine’s coach Carl Crowe gave me insights.”
“There are four to five variations I am bowling. One that goes away, one that comes in, straighter one, flipper and zooter. I might try a couple on Tuesday against Dindigul Dragons. In the past two years, I experimented with whatever I could. I am implementing that now,” he told Express.
It was while Varun was playing for Vijay CC in TNCA First Division league when KB Arun Karthik spotted his talent and wanted him to play for Madurai. An architect by profession, even after getting an opportunity to play in the first division, Varun turned it down and played in the fourth division to perfect his variations.
“Initially, I was a wicketkeeper-batsman. But I stopped cricket and worked for two years. Then I made a comeback as a fast bowler for Crombest CC three years ago. But during the second match, I suffered a knee injury. So I had to stop playing for six months. I didn’t want to continue fast bowling since it placed too much load on my knees. “After that, I got a chance to play in first division. I didn’t want to experiment there. I started with Jubilee CC in fourth division. When I said I wanted to try out a few things, their support staff gave me the freedom to express myself.”
Varun also credits exposure of tennis-ball cricket under lights for helping him evolve. “It took years for me to transfer that skill to a cricket ball.”
srinidhi@newindianexpress.com