New Delhi: Leg spinner Varun Chakaravarthy believes his discussions with Gautam Gambhir has helped him get clarity over his role in the Indian team.
The 33-year-old was in the Kolkata Knight Riders side that won the 2024 Indian Premier League under the tutelage of Gambhir, who then became the India head coach.
Chakaravarthy returned to the Indian team after three years to register career best figures of 5/17 in the second T20I against South Africa.
Though India lost the match by three wickets but Chakaravarthy’s wicket taking ability South Africa work really hard in chase of 125 runs.
Speaking about his time away from the national team and the inputs of Gambhir that made his return possible, he said: “Definitely, the last three years were a little tough,” Chakaravarthy said.
“The only thing I could do was play lots of cricket. And I started playing a lot of the domestic league (TNPL) in India. And that definitely helped me understand my game better. And that’s what helped me.
“Yes, we played the Bangladesh tour and he was coaching the team. And definitely we spoke a lot and he gave me a lot of role clarity.
“He told me, even if you go for 30-40 runs, it doesn’t matter. All you have to look is to pick wickets. So that’s your role in the team. And yeah, the clarity which they gave definitely helped me.”
‘Go all out’
As India could only set a 125-run target, India went in search of wickets from the very beginning. Chakaravarthy’s impressive form reduced the South Africans to 66 for 6 after which Tristan Stubbs (47) and Gerald Coetzee (19) ensured they crossed over the line in 19 overs.
The loss ended India’s 11-match winning streak, Chakaravarthy said that approach nerly helped them pull off a win.
“During the innings break, Surya (skipper Suryakumar Yadav) came and told us that let’s not think about the result and let’s just go all out. And that’s what we tried to do. We did our best and we could have pulled it off,” he said.
“Obviously, the mindset has to be aggressive when the score is low. You have to pick wickets and that’s when we can win the match. That has to be my approach in the next two games also because it’s going to be a do-or-die match for us.”
Chakaravarthy added that this performance would boost his confidence for the remaining two matches if the series that is currently locked at 1-1 with the third match to be held at Centurion on Wednesday, followed by the fourth gane at Johannesburg on Friday.
“Definitely, when we came to South Africa, we knew that it’s going to be a challenging tour because the Proteas, they are one of the best teams right now and they have a powerful batting lineup.
“Doing well against them definitely gives me motivation to do more better and definitely I can. Hopefully I can do well in the upcoming games.”
Varun Chakaravarthy registered career best figures of 5/17 in the second T20I against South Africa. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
