IND vs BAN: Chakravarthy reveals secret behind his successful comeback, says return to Indian team felt like 'rebirth'

Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy made a successful comeback into the Indian team more than three years after his last appearance in the blue jersey with a three-wicket haul in the first T20I against Bangladesh in Gwalior on Sunday.

And reacting to his successful return at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Stadium, the 33-year-old mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu said switching to over-spin from side-spin is what has helped him on his comeback trail.

As the great Nathan Lyon has shown over the years, putting over-spin on the ball generates sharp bounce and turn, which aided Varun on Sunday night. His googly to get rid of Jaker Ali showed the former architect’s total control over his craft.

“I used to be a side-spin bowler, but right now, I have completely shifted to being an over-spin bowler,” said Varun, whose international career had come to a halt after an underwhelming debut in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.

“It’s a minute technical aspect of spin bowling, but it took me more than two years. I gradually tested it in TNPL and IPL. While the mental aspect also had to be worked on, the major chunk of effort I put in was on my technical side,” added the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner.

Chakravarthy recovered from an expensive first over to finish with excellent figures of 3/31 that, together with Arshdeep Singh’s 3/14, helped India bundle Bangladesh out for a modest 127 after opting to field.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten 39 off just 16 balls then ensured the Men in Blue chased the target down with nearly half of their overs remaining, giving India a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

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Despite doing well in the IPL and domestic cricket over the past two seasons, Varun did not get a recall to the Indian team and that only made him hungrier. Now that he is back in blues, it feels like a rebirth.

“Whenever there was a squad that was announced, I used to feel like, ‘Why is my name not there?’ and I used to keep thinking about that. So that kind of brought the motivation within me that I should not leave this.

“I should go all out and make a comeback, so I started playing a lot of domestic games and giving importance to it. That kind of helped me,” said the soft-spoken cricketer.

A catch was dropped in Varun’s first over that eventually went for 15 runs with Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hasan Shanto and Towhid Hridoy going on the offensive against spinner in the powerplay.

However, skipper Suryakumar Yadav trusted Varun to bounce back in the following over and he did that by having Hridoy caught at long-on.

“Yes, in the first over the catch could have gone my way but that’s how T20s are played. I felt the reverse-sweep six was a good ball but it still went for a six, so it’s all mixed emotions.”

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He played the series opener in place of leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who too has had done well fairly well in the limited opportunities that he has got after the T20 Word Cup, reflecting India’s robust bench strength. Varun acknowledged the fierce competition.

“There is good competition and there is good camaraderie also. And the person who was cheering me was Ravi Bishnoi; he was coming and telling me messages, so I can’t ask for more.

“It’s actually good to have such competition so that people will keep pushing each other. Someone will be better than others at one point of time and he will definitely get the Cup for India, so that competition is very required,” Varun added.

‘Feels like a rebirth’

Chakravarthy further termed his international comeback after three long years as something of a “rebirth” and said it was an emotional moment for him when he walked out to the ground wearing the blue jersey on Sunday.

“After three long years, it was definitely emotional for me. Feels nice to be back in the Blues. It feels like a rebirth, I just want to stick to the process, that’s what I have been following in the IPL as well,” Varun told broadcasters ‘Jio Cinema’ after the match.

Varun troubled the Bangladesh batters who failed to read him. Among them was middle-order batter Jaker who had his stumps castled with a ball that turned back in.

The 33-year-old spinner, playing only his seventh T20I, added that, he wants to just soak in the moment and not look too far ahead.

“I don’t want to go beyond what’s there and I just want to stay in the present, that’s why I don’t want to think too much or express too much. After IPL I played few tournaments and one of those was TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League); it’s a very good tournament and high standard as well.”

Varun added that working with India off-spinner R Ashwin during the TNPL really worked well for him and boosted his morale.

“That’s a place (TNPL) where I work a lot, with Ash (Ashwin) bhai also, we won the championship as well. That gave me the confidence here. It was a good preparation for me for this series.

On the dropped catch off his bowling in his first over, Varun said it’s part of the game.

“It could have gone my way, but that’s how cricket is, I can’t complain, thankful to God. There have been many (challenges), once you are not in the Indian side, people tend to write you off very easily. You need to stay in the highest level, again and again you need to keep knocking the door, thankfully this time it happened.

“Hopefully, I can keep continuing my good work.”

Pace bowler Arshdeep Singh, who was declared Player of the Match, was mighty impressed with Mayank Yadav’s bowling on his comeback from a long injury layoff.

“Even my normal balls felt like slower balls compared to his (Mayank’s) pace. Really excited the way everyone bowled, especially Mayank,” he said.

With PTI inputs