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Varun Chakravarthy played a crucial part in India's title-winning T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. He is currently playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2026.
India's Varun Chakravarthy celebrates the wicket of England's Jos Buttler during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 second semifinal cricket match between India and England, at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, on Thursday, 5 March. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)
(PTI)Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has had a mixed 2026 so far, across multiple tournaments and formats. He was flying high at the T20 World Cup 2026 at one stage, but in recent matches, he has found himself on the receiving end. Varun is currently plying his trade for three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2026.
Varun Chakravarthy's short but impactful VHT campaign
Varun Chakravarthy began the year 2026 with a short but impactful campaign with Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He picked up six wickets from two matches, including figures of 4/25 from 10 overs against Rajasthan.
He followed it up with figures of 2/23 against Tripura, and was able to maintain an economy rate of less than three.
Then came India's five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home. In that series, Varun ended up as India's third highest wicket-taker with four scalps from three matches, with best figures of 2/37. This put the 34-year-old in quite a good stead ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 campaign.
Varun Chakravarthy's mixed campaign at T20 World Cup
The legbreak googly bowler had a mixed campaign at the 2026 T20 World Cup, as India defended their title. He appeared to be unplayable in the early weeks of the T20 World Cup, and his mystery was at its peak.
He collected nine wickets from the first four matches, which included figures of 3/7 and 3/14 against Namibia and the Netherlands, respectively.
However, things started to go downhill for Varun from the Super 8 stage onwards. He endured figures of 1/47, 1/35 and 1/40 against South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies, respectively.
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Things took a turn for the worse when he gave away 64 runs against England in the semi-final, while just taking one wicket. In the final against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, he still had better figures of 1/39 but struck just once, to dismiss Tim Seifert for 52 runs.
Despite his struggles in the second half of the tournament, he still finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker, with 14 scalps from nine matches, but with an economy rate of 9.25.
Varun Chakravarthy's IPL 2026 opener
In the IPL 2026 opener against Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders' Varun Chakravarthy returned expensive figures of 0/48 from four overs. Varun seemed to have lost his mystery aspect in that game, and he ended up bowling with higher speeds. This resulted in lesser spin and drift in his deliveries.
Varun will hope to turn things around in the rest of the IPL 2026 season, and get back to his best.
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