Varun Chakravarthy's remarkable comeback from a challenging start to the IPL season has revitalised the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling attack
IMAGE: Varun Chakravarthy's return to form strengthens Kolkata Knight Riders's bowling attack and their chances to make the IPL 2026 playoffs. Photograph: KKR/X
Key Points
- Varun Chakravarthy overcame a poor start to the IPL season, marked by no wickets in the initial overs.
- An injury to his non-bowling hand and mental residue from the T20 World Cup affected his performance.
- Adjustments in his bowling strategy, focusing on restricting batsmen rather than solely seeking wickets, proved effective.
There was a moment early in IPL 2026 when doubts began to creep in around Varun Chakravarthy. Nothing dramatic -- just quiet questions. Nine overs, no wickets.
For a bowler known for control and mystery, it felt uncharacteristic.
At 34, whispers about decline started doing the rounds. Had batters finally figured him out or was it just a rough patch?
He wasn't done. Not even close. What followed over the next four games was the kind of form that reminds you why Varun is one of the most unique cricketers in the country -- 10 wickets, an economy of 7.31 and KKR suddenly looking like a team that could genuinely go deep in this tournament.
Same player. Totally different story.
Varun Chakravarthy's Early Season Struggles
The Numbers, first. Because they really do say everything:
| Phase | Overs | Wickets | Economy Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 3 Games | 9 | 0 | 11.66 |
| Last 4 Games | 16 | 10 | 7.31 |
That's not a dip in form. That's two completely different bowlers wearing the same jersey. And then -- almost like a switch flipped -- he's back to being the guy batters genuinely don't want to face.
So What Actually Went Wrong?
A few things, all hitting at once. The T20 World Cup had ended poorly for Varun and instead of getting a proper reset, he walked straight into IPL season. The mental residue of a poor tournament doesn't just disappear. It follows you into the nets, into your run-up, into the moment you're about to deliver the ball.
Then there was the injury. Varun revealed after his comeback that he'd been playing through broken fingers on his left hand -- his non-bowling hand but these things matter more than people realise.
'I've been saying this every year. Initially, when IPL starts, the first four matches will be flat wickets. It's very tough for spinners to come into the game.'
He also had the pitches working against him. Early IPL surfaces are flat, fast, and batter-friendly and Varun knew this. He'd literally been saying it for years. But knowing something intellectually and living through it are two different things, especially when you are already carrying baggage from the World Cup and bowling through pain.
The cruellest part? The more he tried to fix it, the worse it got.
Piyush Chawla and Ambati Rayudu both noticed it from the outside: Varun was searching for a wicket-taking ball every single delivery, bowling quicker than usual and in doing so, losing the revolutions that make him dangerous in the first place. He was trying so hard that he was getting in his own way.
The Turning Point: Rajasthan Royals Game
To pinpoint the exact moment the season turned, it was the RR game -- three wickets for 14 runs, including a well-set Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, while also shutting down Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag before they could get going.
What was different? Everything was clicking at the same time. The length, the pace, the variations. When Varun has all of that working together, batting against him is genuinely unpleasant.
Key Adjustment Against Sunrisers Hyderabad
The RR game was the breakthrough. The SRH game was the confirmation.
Its the ninth over against Sunrisers Hyderabad. SRH were flying -- 105 for 1, Travis Head in full flow, smashing Varun for 17 off five balls. It looked like it was about to get very ugly very quickly.
But then something shifted. Varun stopped worrying about the wicket and started thinking about Head -- specifically, about stopping him from extending his arms the way he'd been doing.
He first got the big one -- Head, who had been in destructive form. A rare loose ball turned into a wicket as Head miscued it straight to deep midwicket, ending a blazing 61 off 28. That breakthrough shifted the momentum instantly in the 9th over.
Varun then struck again in the 12th over to remove Ravichandran Smaran. Trying to take him on, Smaran charged down the track but was undone by the lack of pace, slicing it high to cover where Ajinkya Rahane completed a safe catch.
Aniket Verma followed soon after, falling to a cleverly disguised slower delivery in the 14th over. He went for a big slog but couldn't control it, and Rahane once again held his nerve at cover, taking a sharp catch despite the sun in his eyes.
Chakravarthy turned the game breaking SRH's momentum at a crucial phase.
One adjustment. One wicket. And then the whole thing unravelled for SRH. From 105 for 1, they collapsed to 165 all out. Nine wickets for 60 runs. Varun and Narine, together, had just strangled one of the most explosive batting lineups in IPL.
What Sparked The Change?
A bit of everything. The finger started healing. The pitches started wearing, offering the kind of grip and turn that spinners need. And somewhere along the way, Varun stopped hunting wickets and started trusting his craft again -- bowling at his natural pace, letting the ball do the work rather than forcing it.
That last part is the hardest to manufacture. You can't coach someone back to trusting themselves. It has to come from within, usually from a moment that reminds you who you actually are.
He'd also said -- almost every year -- that spinners take time to get going in the IPL. He knew the lean patch was coming. That kind of self-awareness doesn't make the difficult overs easier, but it does mean you're less likely to completely lose the plot when they arrive.
Implications For KKR
A fit, confident Varun Chakravarthy bowling alongside Sunil Narine is a genuinely frightening combination. Narine just joined the 200-wicket club. Varun has taken 10 wickets in his last four games. Together, they have shown they can collapse entire innings on their own.
'The guys are coming together, the batting group is coming together. We can make a serious dent in the IPL if we keep going,' Varun said after the match against SRH.
It's worth remembering who Varun Chakravarthy actually is, beyond the IPL numbers. This is a man who was rejected forty times as a youngster, gave away all his cricket gear, finished a degree in architecture, worked a desk job and then walked back into cricket anyway and reinvented himself as a mystery spinner.
The stubbornness required to do that once is remarkable. To do it in over and over again in the course of a single IPL season, is just very Varun.
At 34, in one of the toughest cricket league in the world, he is not done.