Ravichandran Ashwin has been something of an authority in cricket. Thinking cricketers like him easily seem to know much more about the game than the naked eye commonly presents; they can read among the lines. And if Ashwin says that the labels spinners are put under need to be asked, they want to be questioned.
Ashwin has said about how he doesn’t accordingly consider himself an off-spinner. He’s also told about how finger-spinners want to be given the same allowance as wrist-spinners when it comes to the economy rate. Dinesh Karthik has appeared and stated that Ashwin is somewhere between a finger spinner and a mystery spinner.
But what construct a bowler a mystery spinner? There’s no uniformity between opinions. Is Rashid Khan a mystery spinner? Or is he just a leg-spinner with a googly that is impracticable to read? Is Sunil Narine a mystery spinner? Is Narine’s Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) teammate Varun Chakaravarthy a mystery spinner?
Most of the cricketing fraternity believes so. But in a unique interview with Sportskeeda, Varun Chakaravarthy himself revealed the “mystery spinner” myth in a typically calm fashion.
“I’m basically a leggie who has other variations. I bowl a little quicker than the others. I didn’t label myself a ‘mystery spinner’; it just got stuck in the media. That’s how it happened. Yes, I’m someone who disguises his variations well but I don’t really consider myself a ‘mystery spinner’.”
For a bowler of Chakaravarthy’s style and role, always adapting to new situations is important. He hopes to be on his toes to stay relevant in a format as inconstant as T20 cricket and is aware of the adjustments he necessarily to make on a regular basis.
“It’s more about your mindset and believing in yourself that you can be one step ahead of the batters. You don’t need to constantly think about adding variations; you just need to think about how to outthink the batters. That’s one way you can be a step ahead of the curve. That’s what I tend to do.”
“I didn’t truly know I’d be maintained at the start” – Varun Chakaravarthy on KKR’s belief in him ahead of IPL 2022
If there’s the same thing KKR is famous for, it’s the belief they show in their performer. Andre Russell and Narine have been the successors of the franchise’s steadfast belief in their marquee picks through thick and thin. More lately, Varun Chakaravarthy and Venkatesh Iyer linked the list, maintained for good money ahead of the 2022 Indian Premier League(IPL) auction.
Chakaravarthy’s bond with KKR transcends Indian Premier League (IPL) finals appearances and lucrative contracts.
“KKR is a wonderful team run by wonderful people. There are people like Venky Mysore, and Abhishek Nayar, the owners – they’re all cricket lovers and enthusiasts who understand cricket at its core. They know what’s needed and what’s not needed; what has to be said and what shouldn’t be said. They back us also, of course. Wonderful team and wonderful management.”
Ahead of the IPL auction 2022, KKR had some hard calls to make. Apart from Russell, Narine, Iyer, and Chakaravarthy, names similar to Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill had true cases to be maintained by the franchise.
But they ultimately went with the special skillset Chakaravarthy offers, keeping his services for INR 8 crore. The 31-year-old shed light on the process ensued by the KKR management, clarifying how Venky Mysore and Co. moved their interest in retention onto their star performer.
“There wasn’t much talk. I was also waiting for things to be released in the media. I did get a call from Venky Mysore in which he explained a few things, like the dynamics of retention and what they think of me. I didn’t really know I’d be retained at the start, but later on, they told me that I’d be there and it was a good piece of news.”
Chakaravarthy didn’t have an outstanding IPL 2022 campaign, defeat only six wickets, and even fell out of the playing XI at 1 point. He has his eyes on the next Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the next edition of the IPL to boost his opportunity of making a comeback to the Indian side.