During Saturday, May 11, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Varun Chakaravarthy disclosed that he had “carefully orchestrated” Rohit Sharma’s removal from the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Mumbai Indians. In the rain-shortened game, the hosts won by eighteen runs, securing their postseason berth.
In the 16-over match, the Knights were assigned to bat first and made a respectable 157/7 thanks to a 21-ball 42 from Venkatesh Iyer and some useful middle and lower order contributions. In response, Mumbai jumped out to a fast start thanks to a lightning-fast 22-ball 40 from Ishan Kishan. But following the wicketkeeper-batter’s removal, the MI batting lineup faltered against KKR’s fierce bowling attack on a sticky surface. The hosts were briefly scared at the end by Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir, but there was just too much left to do.
Among the KKR bowlers, Chakaravathy was the best, finishing with outstanding statistics of 2/17 in his four overs. After taking out Rohit and Hardik Pandya, he was named Player of the Match. The mystery spinner revealed his plan to remove the present Indian skipper after his valiant spell. The great batsman attempted a sweep but could only muster a thick top-edge, which Sunil Narine securely pouched at short fine.
Yes, since I had never claimed Sharma’s (Rohit bhai) wicket. So there would be a party. The wicket obviously helped, and I was able to take advantage of it. The idea was to force him to hit over the line. “It went off as I had carefully planned,” Chakaravarthy remarked following the game.
Comparing and contrasting Varun Chakaravarthy with Sunil Narine
Sunil Narine and Chakaravarthy, the mystery spin combo of KKR, have taken 33 wickets so far this season and have changed the course of games for the Shreyas Iyer-led team in the middle overs. According to the Karnataka bowler, he is tactically distinct from Narine but similar technically.
“Yes, Varun and I do communicate. Although Varun and I are not the same tactically, we are similar technically. Bowling in front of the hand is Narine. With my back to the bowl, I bowl. I can identify our strengths and areas for improvement,” Chakaravarthy remarked.
The 32-year-old didn’t start the season off well since he didn’t take many wickets and he scored a lot of runs. Nonetheless, he has been very effective lately; in the last four games, he has claimed 10 of his 18 wickets. According to Chakaravarthy, the surfaces in the opening half of the competition were fairly flat and didn’t have anything for the bowlers.
“Eden Gardens has a fairly tiny amount of land. At first, the wickets were too flat. Since the first game, I have bowled in the same manner. I’ve taken the same action. Mishits were on a six-pack. Results are starting to show now that I’ve been bowling the same,” Chakaravarthy said.
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