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Did You Know Varun CV Was An Actor? The Incredible Script Of Failure To Spin Stardom

Soumyajit Dutta

Varun Chakaravarthy's amazing rollercoaster career [Source: @BCCI/X.com]Varun Chakaravarthy's amazing rollercoaster career [Source: @BCCI/X.com]

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Long before he bamboozled batters with his mystery spin and became the architect of India’s ICC Champions Trophy triumph, Varun Chakravarthy was scripting a career so bizarre, that even Bollywood would raise an eyebrow. 

Imagine a man who once traded cricket whites for a chef’s apron on TV, dabbled in movies, and designed buildings, only to pivot and design nightmares for international batters. 

Varun's Early Start With The Silver Screen

In 2014, a young Varun Chakravarthy graced the silver screen in the Tamil sports drama Jeeva, playing a cricketer fighting against the odds. Little did he know life would imitate art. Around the same time, he swapped scripts for spatulas, appearing on the cooking reality show Cooku with Comali. 

But while the world saw a part-time actor or a kitchen rookie, Varun’s heart thumped for cricket, a passion shelved for a "practical" career. Armed with a degree in architecture from SRM University, he sketched buildings by day and dreamt of stumps by night.

From Drafting Tables to Googlies

At 25, Varun made a plot twist even his professors didn’t see coming. He quit his job as a freelance architect, returned to cricket, and joined a local club as a wicketkeeper-batter and seam bowler. But fate, like a mischievous googly, intervened. 

A knee injury forced him to reinvent himself. Then came the mystery spinner. With a mind trained to design structures, he engineered an arsenal of unplayable deliveries, glimpses of which were seen during India's victory over New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 final.

The 2017-18 season was his blockbuster. Playing for Jubilee Cricket Club, he scalped 31 wickets in seven games, while the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) saw him become Madurai’s secret weapon. IPL scouts took notes, and soon, Kings XI Punjab splurged INR 8.4 crore on this enigma. 

However, injuries and setbacks made his IPL debut a cliffhanger, until Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bet on him in 2020. Rewriting his script, he claimed 17 wickets, including a fifer, and became KKR’s spin sorcerer.

The International Rollercoaster

His national call-up in 2021 was delayed by fitness hurdles, but at 33, Varun finally debuted in T20Is, later becoming India’s second-oldest ODI debutant. 

Fast-forward to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy final against New Zealand. India, chasing glory, needed a hero. Came Varun, the man who once juggled movie roles and mortarboards. With icy calm, he spun a web, taking two game-breaking wickets to strangle the Kiwis. 

His tournament tally? The second-highest wickets, cementing his status as India’s mystery maestro, with even Pakistan legends mentioning his skill that the Kiwis couldn't decipher.

As the trophy gleamed under floodlights, Varun’s journey felt surreal, a former architect who built his career brick by brick, a part-time actor who stole cricket’s biggest stage, and a chef-for-a-day who finally cooked up a storm.