Varun Chakravarthy had an outstanding Champions Trophy 2025, becoming the second-highest wicket-taker. His accurate bowling earned him 9 wickets in just 3 matches. This performance highlighted his talent, which he developed in domestic cricket and with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. Interestingly, before his India T20 debut in 2021, Varun acted in a small role in the 2014 Tamil film ‘Jeeva’, starring Vishnu Vishal. At that time, he was a young cricketer working towards his international cricket dream.
Varun began pursuing cricket seriously at 26, starting with tennis ball tournaments. He progressed to the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) before securing an IPL contract with KKR.
Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun mentioned Varun’s nervousness during his India debut. He recalled Varun being intimidated when interacting with then-captain Virat Kohli.
“He seemed quite overwhelmed and hesitant. He was even afraid to tell Virat Kohli his preferred field placement. He ended up bowling to the field that was set for him,” said Arun, who also coaches him at Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, much has changed since then, and Varun’s Champions Trophy performances have made him well-known.
“Look at him now. He’s a completely different cricketer. We believe that top-level cricket is 90% mental, and Varun exemplifies this. He now knows exactly what to do when he gets the ball. He sets his own field because he has greater self-belief,” Arun added.
