New Delhi: India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has opened up about his emotional battles and pre-tournament anxiety, revealing that he often breaks down the night before major matches.
Speaking on Gaurav Kapur’s popular web series Breakfast with Champions, Chakravarthy admitted that the build-up to tournaments takes a heavy toll on him.
“I’m a very bad starter. Before a new tournament begins, I get extremely anxious—I cry the whole night. I keep wondering what’s going to happen tomorrow. I don’t know how it will go. This happened before the Asia Cup as well,” he shared candidly.
The 36-year-old also drew an insightful comparison between chess and cricket, citing young chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju’s humility after winning the world championship and applying the same mindset to cricket.
“When Gukesh won, he said that even though he’s the World Champion, everyone knows Magnus Carlsen is still the number one. Similarly, I might be doing well, but the real number one will always be Jasprit Bumrah. There are players like Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan—I still have a long way to go before reaching that level,” he said.
Chakravarthy’s international journey began in July 2021, though his early performances were underwhelming—just two wickets in six matches. Many believed his international stint was over, but he rebuilt his career through hard work and returned to India’s T20I squad in October 2024.
Since then, he has been a crucial part of India’s T20 setup, contributing significantly to their unbeaten Champions Trophy campaign earlier this year. Despite missing the initial matches, he broke into the playing XI and claimed nine wickets at an average of 15.11, including a five-for (5/42)—the joint second-highest wicket tally of the tournament after New Zealand’s Matt Henry (10).
As per India’s recently announced white-ball squads for the Australia tour, Chakravarthy remains part of the T20I contingent, though he has been rested from ODIs.
Across formats, he boasts impressive stats:
T20Is: 24 matches, 40 wickets at 15.60 average, best 5/17, economy 6.89, with two five-wicket hauls.
ODIs: 4 matches, 10 wickets at 19.00 average, including one fifer.
He has also been part of India’s Asia Cup 2025 T20I and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 winning squads.
In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chakravarthy remains a key performer for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), claiming 100 wickets in 84 matches at an average of 23.85, including a five-wicket haul. His stellar run helped KKR lift the IPL 2024 title, where he bagged 21 wickets at 19.14 on average.
