IN IPL 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024, spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been KKR’s most successful bowler, where he returned with 17, 18, 20 and 21 wickets, respectively, and surely was retained by the team for a hefty price of 12 Cr. But now this year he could be faced with a different challenge. The mystery spinner, even though has been uber successful in international outings, but then there is a chance that teams and players might have started picking up his variations.
Varun Chakravarthy Delivering for KKR
To cut the long story short, Ajinkya Rahane would have to find other bowlers apart from Varun Chakravarthy, who can cause the damage to other teams. Yes, Andre Russell and Harshit Rana were excellent in the last season too, bagging 19 wickets each, but then, in the years prior to that, Varun had no support as such.
| Year | Matches, Wickets |
| IPL 2020 | M 13, W 17 |
| IPL 2021 | M 17, W 18 |
| IPL 2022 | M 11, W 6 |
| IPL 2023 | M 14, W 20 |
| IPL 2024 | M 15, W 21 |
Classic example is the 2020 season, where Pat Cummins was the next best bowler for the team, bagging 12 wickets in 14 matches with an economy of 7.86. Next was Shivam Mavi, with 9 wickets in 8 matches, and his economy was over 8. In 2023 too, the situation was grim as Sunil Narine didn’t fire with the ball, and couldn’t support Varun much. In 14 matches he had only 11 wickets and his average was a poor 34.
Other Bowlers Also Need to Chip In
So, to end this over-reliance on the Chennai lad, a lot of work would be needed from Harshit Rana and Russell and Narine. While this looks like an excellent bowling line up for sure, but then the team can look at Anrich Nortje to be a good wicket-taking option for the team. The South African has an excellent record in the IPL where in 46 matches he has picked up 60 wickets. Overall too, he has a stellar record where in 142 matches he has picked up 180 wickets.
But again, besides Varun’s performance, the top bowlers of the team — Harshit, Russell and Narine will have to come good, if they want to replicate the performance of the IPL 2024.
