Varun Chakravarthy. (Source -IPL/BCCI)
Varun Chakaravarthy revealed how he had ‘meticulously planned’ Rohit Sharma’s dismissal during the Kolkata Knight Riders versus Mumbai Indians clash at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday, May 11. The hosts registered an 18-run win in the rain-curtailed encounter and booked their spot in the playoffs.
After being asked to bat in the 16-over contest, the Knights posted 157/7 on the back of Venkatesh Iyer’s 21-ball 42 and some handy contributions from the middle and lower order. In reply, Mumbai got off to a blistering start on the back of Ishan Kishan’s whirlwind 22-ball 40. However, after the wicketkeeper-batter’s dismissal, the rest of the MI batting line-up struggled on a sticky surface against a spirited bowling performance from KKR. Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir gave the hosts a brief scare towards the end but they had just too much left to do.
Chakaravathy was the pick of the KKR bowlers, as he finished with excellent figures of 2/17 in his four overs. He picked up the wickets of Rohit and Hardik Pandya and was adjudged Player of the Match. After his heroic spell, the mystery spinner explained how he had plotted the dismissal of the current Indian captain. The legendary batter went for a sweep but only managed to get a thick top-edge that was safely pouched by Sunil Narine at short fine.
“Yeah, because I had never taken Rohit bhai’s (Sharma) wicket. So celebration was coming. Obviously, there was help from the wicket, and I was able to use it to my advantage. The plan was to make him hit across the line. I had meticulously planned, and it came off,” said Chakaravarthy after the match.
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Varun Chakaravarthy explains similarities and differences to Sunil Narine
KKR’s mystery spin duo of Sunil Narine and Chakaravarthy have accounted for 33 wickets this season and have been game-changers in the middle overs for the Shreyas Iyer-led side. The Karnataka bowler said that he is technically similar to Narine but tactically different.
“We (Narine and Varun) do talk. Tactically, we (Narine and Varun) are different, but technically, we are similar. He (Narine) bowls in front of the hand. I bowl from the back of my hand. I see what we do well and where we are improving,” said Chakaravarthy.
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The 32-year-old didn’t have a great start to the season, as he went for plenty of runs and also didn’t pick up too many wickets. However, he has been prolific in recent matches, and 10 out of his 18 wickets have come in the last four games. Chakaravarthy opined that the pitches were very flat in the first half of the tournament and didn’t have too much in it for the bowlers.
“The ground is very small here at Eden Gardens. The wickets were too flat initially. My bowling has been the same from the first match. I have done the same thing. Mishits were going for six. I have been bowling the same, results are coming now,” Chakaravarthy stated.