Kolkata, Mar 22: He may have been one of the main architects of India’s Champions Trophy triumph, but mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy believes the IPL presents an entirely new challenge, calling it a “different beast” with need to press the restart button.Chakravarthy was instrumental in India’s success, picking up five wickets in his first match against New Zealand and finishing with nine wickets in three games.
However, he remains cautious about carrying over past success.
“Confidence is very subjective. Every new tournament, even if you win the last tournament, you have to start from the scratch,” Chakravarthy said at the pre-match media interaction ahead of their match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Saturday.
“You have to start from zero. As they say, if you score a hundred in the previous match, you have to start from zero.
“So, similarly, yes, I did well in the last tournament but still, IPL is a different ball game and it’s a different beast. I very well know what’s coming my way and I have to be on my toes.”
Asked about how he maintains his mystery despite advances in technology and video analysis, Chakaravarthy offered a thoughtful insight into his approach.
“The ball can deviate only in three ways – it can go left, right, or straight. It just depends on how I’m going to choose the sequencing, if I’m going to go off-spin right now or leg-spin right now. That’s where the tactical side of the game comes in, and that’s where I’m trying to improve.”
Rajat Patidar might have been a surprise choice to lead star-studded Royal Challengers Bengaluru, but head coach Andy Flower on Friday said the whole team is “right behind” the skipper and the presence of experienced players such as Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be a boon for him.
“A lot of these guys have captained state sides, IPL teams and international teams. So, we’re very pleased with that, regardless of who was actually captaining our team this year,” said Flower in the pre-match media interaction.
“I think having influential people in your squad, guys that have performed at the top level gives him a level of confidence. You get that confidence from the evidence of you succeeding at the top level in the past. There are a lot of our guys that have done that in, obviously, performance terms, but also leadership terms,” he added.