India has produced quality batsmen and great spinners over the years, be it Bishan Singh Bedi or Anil Kumble. All of them brought glory to Indian Cricket. Lately, the country has also seen a quality pace attack and good bench strength of pace bowlers. Mystery spinners are a rare commodity in a country where technique and all the children are taught to follow the basics right. We have seen the likes of Rashid Khan, Ajantha Mendis, Sunil Narine & Mujeeb ur Rahman to be the so-called mystery spinners in the cricketing circle. In this piece, we look at India’s very own mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy. Through stats, we will see his impact on IPL and how he has managed to be effective for his team
Varun vs other mystery spinners
Rashid Khan and Sunil Narine have been in the IPL set up for a long time and are the two best spinners for their respective teams. Ajantha Mendis played his part long back and Mujeeb ur Rahman has not played that much. Varun’s strike rate is better than all of them have and has an economy rate of below seven. Mujeeb ur Rahman has a higher economy for a mystery spinner and concedes runs at the rate of 8 per over. The bowler has been able to partner up with Narine for KKR and in the current season both have picked up 25 wickets together in 92 overs. Narine has seven 4 wicket hauls which is a great example of how he can run through the opposition’s batting lineup on his day. Except for Varun who has one 5 wicket haul no other mystery spinner in this list possesses this record. With more time and experience he will be able to pick up more 4-5 wicket hauls.
Over-wise performance
Spinners bowling in the power play has been a usual scene in the IPL, especially captains attacking foreign batsmen who like the ball coming at a certain pace. Varun’s economy is 7.32 and generally bowls one over of his spell in the powerplay. 45% of his balls in the powerplay are dot and with his consistency and his ability to take wickets batsmen usually try to play his over out in the powerplay. The player is very effective in the middle overs and has picked up 23/33 wickets in this phase. Only giving runs at 6.62 per over he is able to control the momentum of the innings. With so many variations at the back of his hand, Varun has been used in the death overs too and is able to pick up crucial wickets and build up pressure.
Performance at different grounds
Varun only played one single game before the covid pandemic and has been playing at different grounds rather than in the normal circumstance where you play 7 games at your home and 1 each at the other grounds in the country. Interestingly he has been more expensive in the MA Chidambaram Stadium which is a slow track and is good for spin bowling and has performed well in the Wankhede Stadium which is known for its high scoring. At the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the batsmen have been able to solve his mystery as the bowler has only 2 wickets in 16 overs and has an economy of more than 8. He has been the most successful at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium with 13 wickets in 10 games.
Conclusion
The player is a part of the Indian T20 WC Squad, and the cricketing community is calling him India’s no.1 choice in playing X1 for a spinner. There have been previous injury concerns with the player and there is news around the corner that he is having some issues with his knee injury.
KKR has an important game on 7th October and will be almost through to the next stage with a win and Varun will be much needed. There is no official announcement regarding his fitness and the KKR fans along with all the other Indians will hope that he is fit and in form for the mega event.
Varun’s journey has been somewhat different just like the mystery in his bowling and probably this will encourage other unorthodox bowlers who are effective to work on their skills and play the game at the biggest stage.