CHENNAI: For Varun Chakraborty, the T20 World Cup victory must have felt bittersweet. The enigmatic spinner, touted as India’s X-factor bowler, was not at his best. Although he finished as the tournament’s joint-highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps, his economy rate of 9.25 was a little above his own best standards.This was well above his career economy rate of 7.55, and Varun admitted after the victory that conditions were challenging for him.
“These are super batsman-friendly wickets, so it was a bit challenging for me. But on the other hand, I was able to take wickets here and there, which was very important for my team,” Varun said, adding that the World Cup victory was the most memorable moment of his career.While that wasn’t troubling by any stretch of the imagination, the fact that his economy rates in the virtual quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were 10, 16 and 13 respectively could have pushed Varun to do some soul-searching ahead of the IPL, where he plays for Kolkata Knight Riders.With Kuldeep Yadav waiting in the wings and other wrist-spinners like Zeeshan Ansari and Ravi Bishnoi also in contention, Varun will be keen to rediscover his best form as India begin preparations for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.Harbhajan SinghOne of India’s best off-spinners believes Varun will make a strong comeback.“First of all, he is a champion bowler. I first saw him in the nets of Chennai Super Kings in 2018 where he was a practice bowler. I asked the CSK management to pick him immediately – which they didn’t – because even then he was not able to play in the nets very often,” Bhaji told TOI.
Harbhajan felt that one thing that bothered Varun this World Cup was the way the batsmen handled him on the back foot.“Normally, Varun gets the batsmen out for fun when he tries to hit a backfoot shot. But in this World Cup he has gone for runs and that might be because he made a little mistake with the length,” Harbhajan said.Although dubbed an enigmatic spinner, Varun usually attacks the stumps as he does not have much leg break. There were suggestions during the tournament that the batsmen were reading him a little better. Bhaji, however, rejected this theory.“There are no secrets in modern cricket. When it comes to top players, people often know what the next ball will be. Everyone knew that Dale Steyn’s best ball was the outswing, but did that make it easier to face him? It is a battle between the batsman and the bowler. If the bowler gets it right, he will succeed.”During the World Cup, as the batsmen tried to attack Varun more aggressively, the spinners sometimes got away with their power. Sunil Gavaskar pointed out during the commentary that when put under pressure, Varun tended to bowl a bit too fast, making him resemble a medium pacer.There was a phase in Anil Kumble’s career when something similar happened, but the legendary leg-spinner dealt with it quickly. Harbhajan noted that Kumble’s greatest strength was his ability to overcome self-doubt.“Anil Bhai’s height allowed him to bounce, and his biggest advantage was that he could bowl in one place all day. This is a rare quality. Varun can definitely refer to Kumble’s playbook,” said Bhaji.Practicing with a stump can help improve accuracy, he suggests.“It was something I used to do a lot and it helped me,” added the off-spinner, who won four IPL titles with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.While Varun’s main weapon is his googly, Harbhajan believes it will help if the KKR spinner works more on the delivery that goes away from the right-hander.Bhaji said, “Variability is essential. If he gets that delivery right, the batsmen won’t be able to pre-think against him. Varun will get some time now and try these things in the IPL. I know he is mentally strong and I am sure he will continue to play a key role in India’s quest for more T20 success.”This will be good news for India, as all-rounder Varun Chakraborty adds a completely different dimension to the bowling attack.
