Champions Trophy 2025: Watch out for ‘Mystery’ spinner Varun Chakravarthy
By Prakhar Sachdeo
Spinner Varun Chakravarthy emerged from the dugout to produce a match-winning display against New Zealand in his Champions Trophy debut on Sunday while also leaving India with a “happy headache” ahead of the tournament’s knockout stage.
Chakravarthy is considered a ‘mystery spinner’ for his bag of tricks that include off-break, leg-break, googly and the ‘carrom ball’ that he pushes with his knuckle.
He was the player-of-the-series when India beat England 4-1 in a T20 series last month but has been warming the bench during the Champions Trophy being behind Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja in India’s spin pecking order.
He was the player-of-the-series when India beat England 4-1 in a T20 series last month but has been warming the bench during the Champions Trophy being behind Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja in India’s spin pecking order.
“He has got something different about him, there’s no doubt about it, Varun was class today. If he gets it right, it’s very difficult to read him” India captain Rohit Sharma said.
Varun Chakravarthy represents Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. He has played 70 IPL games and claimed 83 wickets. He made his IPL debut in 2019 with Punjab Kings.
He has played 19 international games (1 ODI and 18T20is) for India and claimed 34 wickets.