Varun Chakravarthy, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) mystery spinner who bagged 5 wickets against strong Delhi Capitals thereby registering best figures in IPL 2020 so far has set his eyes on the Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy after guiding his team to an impressive win over Delhi.
Delhi Capitals failed to chase the stiff total of 195 as the side was restricted to only 135/9, handing KKR a win by 59 runs on Saturday. For KKR, Varun Chakravarthy was the standout bowler as he finished with the figures of 5/20 while Nitish Rana scored 81 and comeback-man Sunil Narine scored a brisk 64 at a strike rate of exactly 200.
Varun Chakravarthy: Next Challenge Is To Qualify For Playoffs And Win IPL
With this win against second-placed Delhi, KKR has put themselves ahead in the race for a playoff spot. The side now has 12 points from 11 matches and is placed in the fourth position with 6 wins and 5 losses and will face 5th placed Kings XI Punjab in their next match on 26th October.
“The next challenge is to get into the playoffs and lift the cup for KKR,” Chakravarthy told Dinesh Karthik in a video posted by iplt20.com.
Against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on October 7, Varun Chakravarthy had bowled opponents’ skipper MS Dhoni. Varun Chakravarthy said it was a “surreal” experience by picking up MS Dhoni’s wicket as he recalled the incident and he will cherish that moment forever. KKR won that match by 10 runs and the spinner returned with figures of 1/28 in 4 overs. He used to be a net bowler and went to Chennai’s stadium to witness matches.
“It felt very surreal. I was a net bowler and before that, I used to go to Chepauk stadium to see the matches. To take the wicket of Dhoni was surreal and I will definitely cherish that moment in my life,” he said.
Varun Chakravarthy now has 12 wickets from 10 matches averaging 23.5. He is the fourth spinner in the leading wicket-takers list in IPL 2020 after Yuzvendra Chahal (15 wickets), Rashid Khan (14 wickets) and Rahul Chahar (13 wickets).
Varun Chakravarthy: Great To Play Alongside Dinesh Karthik
Varun Chakravarthy made his List A debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy and was the leading wicket-taker for Tamil Nadu in that season with 22 dismissals in only nine matches. He made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy.
In December 2018, he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab in the 2019 IPL auction at the price of 8.4 crores. He was released by the Kings XI Punjab ahead of the 2020 IPL auction and was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League.
Chakravarthy is also happy to play alongside Karthik and said: “It feels great to play alongside DK as I started by wicket-keeping because of DK. So, it feels great to be standing next to him. I have huge respect for him for what he has done for Tamil Nadu and India. I feel privileged to play under him.”
It is to be noted that Dinesh Karthik handed over the captaincy to Eoin Morgan midway in IPL 2020. Eoin Morgan captained KKR against Mumbai Indians, SunRisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals in the last 4 matches after Dinesh Karthik captained in first 7 matches. Morgan-led KKR lost to Mumbai and Bangalore but beat Hyderabad in Super Over and Delhi by 59 runs.