CHENNAI: The fruit of hard work is always sweet. For Tamil Nadu's mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, Tuesday was a day to remember.
From base price of Rs 20 lakh, Varun was sold for a whopping Rs 8.4 crore to Kings XI Punjab during the auction for IPL 2019.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to be bought by Kings XI. After the last Tamil Nadu Premier League (his team Siechem Madurai Panthers won the title), I was confident that I will be bought. I thought someone will pick me for base price. I never dreamed of going for such a huge amount," the 27-year-old told Express on Tuesday.
An architect by profession, what makes Varun a unique bowler is how he has used his variations, that too to good effect. In Vijay Hazare Trophy, he finished as the second-best wicket-taker (22 scalps) at an impressive economy of 4.23. He had revealed that he was planning to master eight variations.
“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. In the past two years, I experimented with whatever I could. I am implementing that now."
But it was TNPL that put him in the spotlight. He was used mainly to contain, and Varun says that he is keen to perform well in IPL.
"I am mentally prepared to play in IPL. TNPL was a good platform for preparation. In the tournament, I learnt to how to handle pressure and bowl in various situations to different batsmen. I am confident I can replicate the same success."
Varun was a net bowler for Chennai Super Kings for five days, when they played one match in Chennai this April. Later, he was called by Dinesh Karthik to bowl for Kolkata Knight Riders. On Tuesday, it was evident that both these teams were in a bidding war before R Ashwin-led Punjab finally bought him.
“Bowling to the likes of Dhoni, Raina and others made me understand a batsman’s mindset in T20s. When I was with KKR for two weeks, Sunil Narine’s coach Carl Crowe gave me insights.”
Even after getting an opportunity to play in the TNCA first division, Varun turned it down and played in the fourth division to perfect his variations. He now represents Vijay CC in the first division.
“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 to tennis-ball cricket under lights for helping him evolve. “It took years for me to transfer that skill to a cricket ball. I just want to play my natural game. I know my strength and wish to use it to good effect in IPL.”