He’s been a different bowler since his India comeback last year, beating batters with dip and bounce, and these ingredients floored England in the first T20I in Kolkata

Sreshth Shah22-Jan-2025

Varun Chakravarthy was India’s match-winner with the ball on Wednesday night•BCCI

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”All good cricketers are thinking cricketers, but when it comes to Varun Chakravarthy, there’s a philosopher within him, too. He posted the above quote in June 2024 on Instagram after being left out of India’s squad for the T20Is in Zimbabwe, where nearly everyone on the fringes of the national side made the cut.After finishing as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2023-24 Vijay Hazare Trophy with a stellar average of 13.05, Varun had followed up with an IPL-winning performance for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024, where he was the season’s second-highest wicket-taker. And yet, he was left out not only for the T20 World Cup but also for the Zimbabwe tour. Out came the quote.Related

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It was only for the T20Is at home against Bangladesh and the tour of South Africa that followed that he was given his chance, his second in international cricket. He wasted no time in reminding everyone what he could do with the white ball. He topped the bowling charts in South Africa and against Bangladesh, and completed a magnificent redemption arc.While Varun accepted the things he couldn’t change – like selection, for example – he had mustered the courage to change how he bowled. Originally famous for being a mystery spinner who relied on sidespin and the carrom ball, Varun had quietly worked on changing his game since his omission following the 2021 T20 World Cup.From being a mystery spinner reliant on sidespin, Varun has turned himself into an overspin bowler who tests batters with bounce•Associated PressAs T20 evolved, so did he, becoming a bowler who came to rely more on overspin. Never the biggest spinner of the ball, deception by turn wasn’t quite working for Varun, so he turned to deception by dip, length and speed.The advantage of being an overspin bowler is that most deliveries come with menacing dip, and consequently, extra bounce, and both these skills have changed Varun’s fortunes. He hovers around the shorter side of a length, away from batters’ hitting arc, and challenges them with that bounce. According to ESPNcricinfo’s data, since his return last year, he has landed 55% of his deliveries in T20Is on a good length, and around 17% just short of a good length. He has taken 15 of his 20 wickets from those areas, at an average of 8.4.

“Even if I go for a six, I look for a wicket next ball. To attack a lot, that’s what has been told to me by the management. I keep different plans for people who pick me. And different plans for those who don’t.”Varun Chakravarthy

Against England in the first T20I in Kolkata, Varun stuck to that same plan, bowling 14 of his 24 balls on those lengths. And as he’s done through his career, he attacked the stumps with his line and made Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone look out of place, before dismissing Jos Buttler in the 17th by getting a shortish ball to skid onto the set batter and induce a miscue to deep square leg.With figures of 3 for 23 in four overs, at an economy rate of 5.75, Varun set the template that Axar Patel followed with 2 for 22, and all England could muster was 132. “It was a really good pitch and a fast-scoring wicket here,” Buttler conceded after the match, and Abhishek Sharma’s 34-ball 79 showed just that as India cruised to victory with 43 balls to spare.Conditions looked different when Varun had the ball, though.”After the 2021 World Cup, I analysed my bowling and what I found was I was bowling more sidespin, and I wasn’t being able to beat the batsmen through sidespin,” Varun told the broadcaster after the game. “I worked out that I need to beat them with bounce. Then I started working with overspin. If it bounces more, the chances are I can get it to spin more.Varun has been one of Suryakumar Yadav’s chief weapons in his time as India’s T20I captains•AFP/Getty ImagesAs a local in the IPL, Varun knew exactly which areas to bowl at Eden Gardens.”I also worked on varying my pace [after my comeback], because I don’t want them to line me up by bowling at the same pace all the time. Because I’m used to seeing such pitches in the IPL, I know it is [ideal] for the seamers but there are certain lengths that are helpful [for the spinners] here. I am trying to keep it away from their arc. Bowling in the just-short length was holding a bit.”There has been a pattern to a lot of Varun’s wickets since his comeback. In the four T20Is in South Africa, Varun dismissed Heinrich Klaasen, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram and David Miller immediately after those batters had hit him for four or six, usually by doing something different the following delivery. Here in Kolkata, Varun’s dismissals of Brook and Buttler followed the same pattern.”It has always been [my aim] to look for wickets, and never go for defensive mode,” Varun said. “Even if I go for a six, I look for a wicket next ball. To attack a lot; that’s what has been told to me by the management. I keep different plans for people who pick [my variations]. And different plans for those who don’t. Playing England was going to be tough since they are a tough side and this is a small ground, and I was nervous in the morning by looking at the pitch, but I knew if I stick to my process, it would work.”On the same day as his Instagram story about “acceptance, courage and wisdom”, Varun had also written this: “I wish I had a paid PR agency!!!!!!” With performances like Wednesday in Kolkata, Varun is letting his bowling do his PR.