Unarguably one of the pillars of India's T20I team, Varun Chakravarthy played a pivotal role in their triumph at the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2025. Varun, a mystery spinner, has worked with head coach Gautam Gambhir for a long time. The two were together as player and mentor when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in the 2024 season. With Gambhir as his coach in the Indian national team, Varun enjoyed success in the Asia Cup, becoming a key wicket-taker in the bowling unit. However, the player is yet to take his career beyond the shortest format, with chances in ODI cricket being limited while Tests aren't even in sight.
Answering a query by NDTV on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday, Chakravarthy spoke about the conversations he had with coach Gambhir about his ODI career. During the chat, Chakravarthy revealed that Gambhir has advised him to bat higher in the batting order while playing domestic tournaments, and also try to bowl longer spells.
"Basically, the conversations were around bowling longer spells. Because in T20, you maximum bowl two overs back-to-back. But in ODI, you have to bowl five to six overs back-to-back, which I did work on and I was able to do it in the Champions Trophy," Chakravarthy said.
"Nothing much and definitely, he wants me to bat a little more up the order in the domestic circuit and improve on my batting," he added.
When asked about his ambitions in Test cricket, Chakravarthy said that he is open to play in all three formats for India and is preparing himself for the same.
"It's again selection. I would like to play every match India is playing but it's up to the selectors," he responded to the query.
Chakravarthy also spoke about Gambhir, the coach, describing him as a 'spartan' who always wants to go for the kill.
"I have already worked with him in the IPL and we won that IPL, so nothing new to me because I have already been around him. But definitely one thing which I can say about him is he brings a 'Spartan' mentality to the team where there is no option of losing, you just have to bring your best and give everything on the ground and later on, whatever happens, happens. But when he is around, there is no mediocrity, you can't be mediocre in the field, that's what I feel," he said.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/SOkwLRh
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment