As Varun Chakaravarthy was introduced into the attack by Rohit Sharma, in the Champions Trophy game against New Zealand, a cool breeze was blowing across the Dubai International Stadium. It felt as if there was a rhythmic synchronization between Varun’s run-up and the winds. The first over of Varun itself provided enough evidence that the spinner was in a zone of his own.
After starting with a very full delivery, Varun pulled his length back just enough and had a couple of half-hearted appeals turned down. One wondered how long it would take before Varun starts to run through the New Zealand batting line-up. The answer was just a few offerings as in his very next over, Varun cleaned up Will Young with a flatter delivery.
In his third over, he had the challenge of bowling to Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s best batter. Once again, Varun showcased his nous – mixing up stump-line bowling with offerings ushered in wide of off-stump. With the track also providing enough grip and turn to the spinners, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Varun dismantled New Zealand’s lower-middle-order and bagged his maiden five-for in ODIs.
So, what was the crux of Varun’s splendid spells? The essence of his bowling was how well he blended his variations and pace through the air with smarts. It somewhere tells you that we concentrate too much on his variations. The Varun version 3.0 doesn’t exactly depend on bowling 6-7 variations in a spell. But he is now very much a complete limited-overs bowler.
To sift further evidence, let’s look at the number of boxes his bowling has ticked off. Side-spin? Yes. Over-spin? Yes. Varying his pace, alongside subtle changes in lines and lengths? Yes. Hitting the sticker of the bat? Yes. The stamina to bowl at pace over various spells? Yes.
Incidentally, AC Prathian, his coach, had said this to RevSportz on how Varun has improved his fitness: “You know, as Varun is very good with his speeds, his speeds have always been on the higher side. So, to bowl 24 deliveries with solid intent is very difficult. What I feel is the speed of the run-up has been constant, it doesn’t decrease now.
“If you get tired, the speed of the run-up comes down, where your effectiveness with the ball is not there. Since he is strong enough, he is able to do that process for 24 deliveries. Earlier, there was a scenario, where he was running a bit slower. Now, he is stronger. That is helping him to give his 100 per cent for all those 24 deliveries,” he had added.
Meanwhile, in the after-match press conference, Varun shared his thoughts on how he goes about stitching together a spell in the 50-over format. “In T20, my sequencing of balls – as in how I construct an over – is totally different compared to the 50-over format,” Varun said. “And that I was able to figure out when I played the last two years in Vijay Hazare Trophy [India’s main domestic one-day tournament].”
The bigger question still remains to be answered. Should India pick Varun for the semifinal versus Australia? Logic says yes. This is the right time to give him a run in the 50-over side. If not now, when would India select him? It can’t be when 20 years after hanging up his boots, Varun sits on a rocking chair and ponders how the think-tank didn’t give him opportunities at a time when he had touched his peak.