Indian cricket team in action during Champions Trophy 2025© AFP
It was a brilliant campaign for Varun Chakravarthy in the Champions Trophy 2025 as the Indian cricket team spinner ended up as the second best wicket-taker in the competition. He impressed everyone with his disciplined bowling and ended up taking 9 wickets in just 3 matches. It was the perfect show from the spinner who made his name in the domestic circuit and as a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders side in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, even before making his T20I debut for India in 2021, he played a cameo in a 2014 Tamil movie called ‘Jeeva’ with Vishnu Vishal in the lead role. He was a budding cricketer at that time and it took him some time to finally achieve his dream of playing international cricket.
Varun took up cricket as a serious profession at the age of 26 and started with tennis ball competitions. He moved up to the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) before landing his contract with KKR.
Former Indian cricket team bowling coach Bharat Arun revealed how nervous Varun was when he made his India debut and even recalled his ‘overawed’ interaction with then captain Virat Kohli.
“He definitely looked a bit overawed. He was scared of even telling Virat Kohli what field setting he wanted. He ended up bowling to the field given to him,” Arun, who also works with him at Kolkata Knight Riders, told The Indian Express.
However, a lot has changed since then and Varun’s Champions Trophy performances has made him a household name.
“Look at him now. He is a totally different cricketer. We say cricket at the elite level is 90% mental and Varun stands true for it. He now knows what to do when given the ball. He is setting his own field, because he believes in himself more,” Arun added.
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