Varun Chakravarthy’s Wheel Of Life Rotates Around Dubai

Bhargav Dixit

Varun Chakravarthy celebrates Glenn Phillips' wicket (Source: AP Photos)Varun Chakravarthy celebrates Glenn Phillips' wicket (Source: AP Photos)

Following Kolkata and Abu Dhabi, Dubai was the third city where India spinner Varun Chakravarthy played an Indian Premier League match around four and a half years ago. It was the first time when the cricketing fraternity was introduced to an up-and-coming mystery spinner from India.

No longer restricted to the label of a “mystery spinner”, Chakravarthy did get restricted to falling short and measuring up at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

For those who don’t know, Dubai is the city where the right-arm bowler first represented India in a world event. Dubai is also the city where he remained wicketless for three T20Is in an ICC event to not play international cricket again for almost three years.

Just like a hot-and-cold relationship where two people can neither live together nor live in separation, Chakravarthy returned to Dubai to register a maiden ODI five-wicket haul in only his second match in the format. The same means that Dubai is also the city where Chakravarthy has picked a maiden five-wicket haul in an international multi-team tournament.

Life Comes A Full Circle For Varun Chakravarthy In Dubai

For those who don’t know, Chakravarthy’s bowling figures of 11-0-71-0 across three ICC T20 World Cup 2021 matches were disciplined but his inability to dismiss a batter led to a short-term ouster but a long-term becoming of a top-quality bowler.

While there’s no point in arguing anymore if Chakravarthy was ready for international cricket back in the day or not, not many would deny that he is absolutely ready for both the limited-overs formats right now.

Just as the selection committee fast-tracked him for 2021 World Cup, Chakravarthy’s unparalleled potential saw him receiving the same treatment in a last-minute change ahead of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy. The only difference is that he needed one outing to justify his selection by bagging a third Player of the Match award for the country. Interestingly, all his three such awards have come in last six weeks.

Records Aplenty For Varun Chakravarthy

Nailing variations with immaculate accuracy against New Zealand, Chakravarthy’s bowling figures of 10-0-42-5 are the second-best by a bowler on Champions Trophy debut. Best for an Indian debutant in the coveted tournament, it is second-best for an Indian bowler in it.

Furthermore, the 33-year-old player has also become the first Indian bowler to pick a maiden ODI five-fer in as recent as the second match. With bowled and lbw resulting in four out of his five wickets at this stadium tonight, Dubai is almost certain to also become the city where Chakravarthy will be playing his first knockout match in an ICC tournament.