IPL 2019 Auction: Stock jumps for unknown commodity Varun Chakravarthy

Every IPL auction throws up a couple of interesting, yet unknown names that piques curiosity levels of franchises. It was a similar script that played out this time around as well. Along with Chakravarthy, it was Shivam Dube, the young and sinewy all-rounder from Mumbai who hogged the limelight. Dube rose into prominence after he walloped five sixes, just a day ahead of the auction in a Ranji Trophy duel against Baroda. Not surprisingly, Royal Challengers Bangalore went all out for him, snapping him for a cool sum of Rs 5 crore, from his eventual Rs 20 lakh-base price.

Chakaravarthi, in many ways, is a bit of an unknown commodity and the bidding war that he kicked off between Delhi Capitals, Chennai SuperKings, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab was the highlight of the evening. Long after he was eventually picked up for Rs 8.4 crore by the Kings XI, the obscurity surrounding him refused to cease.

In order to fully understand Chakravarthy’s entry into the glitzy world of the Indian Premier League, one needs to go back to 2016, when he was working as an architect in Chennai. He had two years of work experience behind him, but the sheer pressure of a demanding corporate job had taken its toll on him. He realized that he had hit a dead-end and that this was not something that he wanted to do for the rest of his life. On first thoughts, he did not know what he should do next. Cricket was something that had fascinated him right from his school days, and he had even represented his school – Chennai’s St.Patrick’s as a wicket-keeper batsman with a fair degree of success. After a bit of deliberation, he decided to give another shot at this game he loved so dearly. Chakravarthy’s decision at a career-shift met with overwhelming support from his parents. His father, Vinod, who is employed with BSNL, mother Malini, a house-wife and younger sister Vandita, an interior designer were receptive to the idea of him trying his hand at cricket.

“I am really thankful to my parents and my younger sister for supporting my decision. It was a late shift in my life, but I did not see myself working as an architect for the rest of my life,” he explains. Much after quitting school cricket, it was tennis ball cricket, which he played over the weekends with friends near his residence in Chennai’s Kottur area that had rekindled his passion for the game. The initiation back into cricket was not a smooth ride.

He did not have any contacts, but luckily for him, he signed up for Crom Best Cricket Club where he began as a seam-bowling all-rounder. At the outset, he did not meet with much success. In fact, after a knee injury in early 2017 it looked like his cricketing ambitions would end on a tepid note. Looking back now, that injury proved to be a blessing in disguise. During that period, he immersed himself by watching countless videos of Anil Kumble on youtube, as he shifted his attention to bowling spin. “I am a big Anil Kumble fan. During that injury, I watched videos of Anil Kumble trying to perfect the art of bowling leg-spin,” he notes.

He was already 25 then, and most coaches would tell you that such a late shift could be suicidal. After recovering from his injury, he practised with a zen-like precision.

In the interim, he was selected for Siechem Madurai Panthers for the TNPL, but in his maiden season, success continued to elude him. He was bowling far too quickly and lacked the skill, guile and perceptible variations that were essential requisites to outfox batsmen in T20 cricket. The real turnaround came at the end of the TNPL season, when Dinesh Karthik invited him to spend time at the nets with the KKR during the 2018 IPL season.

Here, his interactions with Sunil Narine helped his game immensely. For starters, he expanded his repertoire and added a plethora of wicked deceptions up his sleeve. All these were used to devastating effects as he spun the Panthers to a famous win in TNPL this year.

As Chakravarthy puts its, the heady performance in TNPL opened the doors to Tamil Nadu state team. He continued his incredible form at the Vijay Hazare, in which he accounted for 22 scalps from just 9 games.

“The TNPL this year brought about the change of fortunes. People began to take notice of me, and that helped me seal a spot in the Tamil Nadu team.” From a wicket-keeper batsman in school cricket, to being an architect, and then to kick-start his career as a mystery spinner is indeed a mind-boggling achievement. “I think, I can put it down to my passion for my game and hours of practise trying to perfect all the variations.” he says in a rather matter-of-fact manner.

Going forward, much more than the plum IPL contract, getting to play under someone as seasoned as Ravichandran Ashwin, who is the captain of Kings XI is something that Chakravarthy is looking forward to. “Playing under Ashwin is something that I am really looking forward to. He is an experienced campaigner and I can really learn something something from him,” he concludes.