When India lost to South Africa during the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad, the whole team – barring Jasprit Bumrah – had an off day. But since that day, everyone in that XI managed to regain form, as India defended their title, except Varun Chakravarthy.
It was as recent as the start of the T20 World Cup that Varun was being called “a cheat code” in the same breath as Bumrah, but in his last six games, he has conceded 273 runs in 23 overs, leaving him with an economy of 11.86 since that South Africa fixture. In fact, these are now the worst economy numbers for any bowler across a six-match bowling streak (for a minimum of 20 overs) in T20s.
The break between the World Cup and IPL 2026 would’ve allowed Varun an opportunity to recalibrate – both from the perspective of his game and the mental space he would’ve found himself in – but against Mumbai Indians [MI], he bowled a wicketless spell of 48 runs. Rohit Sharma, who had a strike-rate of less than 100 coming into the game against Varun, took his bowling apart from the first ball.
On ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show, former India internationals Piyush Chawla and Ambati Rayudu had said after the MI game that Varun’s “desperation” to look for wickets – he has only five wickets in his last six T20s – was making him search for a magic ball that could earn him a breakthrough. The pace at which he has been bowling has also increased and that has meant fewer revs on the ball. Both those factors, the pair feels, have made Varun go astray.
The numbers are not in Varun’s favour. In a whole year of T20 cricket before that South Africa game, Chakravarthy bowled 79 full balls (according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data) and conceded seven sixes and seven fours for an economy of 8.88. Since that game, he has been hit for seven sixes and five fours across 22 full balls, which is basically a boundary every second full-pitched delivery and an economy of 19.9. Deliveries that land at a short-of-good-length, too, have seen a spike in strike-rate – 242 vs 177. All this begs the question: has Varun lost that threat factor?
Abhishek Nayar, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach who has also served as a personal coach to Varun before, feels he is a victim of his own success. The high standards he has set with his bowling have meant Varun is being scrutinised more keenly. From a point of view of the mental side of things, Nayar believes Varun is in a better space than ever before.
“Over the years, he’s gone through a lot of adversity. I don’t think there’s any issue. But yes, teams are playing him well. Doesn’t mean he can’t come back.”
Abhishek Nayar on Varun Chakravarthy
“Is this his toughest challenge? I personally feel he has gone through a lot more in the past,” Nayar said ahead of KKR’s home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. “Everyone always knew Varun Chakravarthy is a terrific bowler, but the expectation attached has come from the kind of performance he’s given to team India.
“But I think the interesting part of sport is when you actually look at it statistically, he’s pretty much bowled at the similar speeds that he always has. Interestingly, HawkEye suggests he’s bowled the same lengths, but sometimes, just sometimes, players play better than what you’re doing. Wankhede was a very good pitch and it challenged the spinners.
“Varun bowls in those phases where he’s always going to be challenged. I think as an opposition, when teams think ‘what’s the best way to play KKR’, they will think taking him down is important. So people do challenge him and there are going to be times when teams will accomplish that.
“But I feel as a player, he understands that. Over the years, he’s gone through a lot of adversity. I don’t think there’s any issue. But yes, teams are playing him well. Doesn’t mean he can’t come back.”
With Varun struggling for that impactful performance, there is one school that feels he could be eased into a bowling spell for the best chance of success – say, after a wicket has just fallen or after the powerplay. Nayar said that had been a consideration in Varun’s case too, and it might be something KKR fall back on in the coming games, keeping the player in mind, but overall, he thinks he would rather see his best bowler taking on the difficult overs.
Varun Chakravarthy has had a difficult few games•BCCI
“I enjoyed the question,” Nayar said, when asked about tweaking Varun’s entry point ahead of his first spell. “I think entry points are really important for a bowler. And yes, at times you want to protect a bowler and bring him at a time where you feel he can be more effective.
“But the nature of the game is that sometimes you want to put your best players in a position to perform. And the way we look at it is, if he picks up wickets there, he’s a different bowler. So the entry point, sometimes when you’re challenged, you want to get the person who’s well equipped to overcome it and who’s done it in the past. But yes, the flip side of that is it can push them back.
“But, you know, that [entry points] is something we are thinking about and something that we are pondering about as well. But if a team like ours wants to succeed, you want our best players to actually perform in those crunch moments. Protecting someone is instrumental, but we’d rather do it by backing them. Once you’re on the field, you want to position them in places where this team can succeed collectively. And I think Varun has those capabilities. We don’t want him to feel like he can’t do it for us. We all believe he can.”
With three games across the next nine days for KKR at home at Eden Gardens, Varun will be tested as the surface has moved from spin-friendly to pace-friendly over the last two seasons. From the outside, he may appear to be facing his biggest challenge yet, but a peek inside the camp suggests the fundamentals have not yet changed. The next few games may well decide whether this is a brief unravelling or the start of a new contest he must learn to win again.
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
