Varun Chakravarthy’s performance against his favorite team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), on Wednesday, April 27 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, was just another day at the office for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The hosts continued to struggle against the skilled spin trio of KKR, particularly Chakravarthy, who took four overs to return figures of 3/27 to help his team win for the third time this season.
Since his IPL debut, Chakravarthy has been the RCB batsmen’s foe. He has taken 13 wickets against them in eight matches, the fewest against any team, with an economy of just 6.32 and a SR of 14.62. The fact that he has taken 26% of the team’s wickets in those eight matches demonstrates his impact against RCB. In light of this, let’s take a look at some of his best performances against RCB.
3) 2/39, Chepauk, IPL 2021, Match 10
Varun Chakravarthy wreaked havoc on the RCB batsmen in just five balls on a pitch that was great for spinners.
Virat Kohli couldn’t resist Chakravarthy’s tossed deliveries when he was introduced in the second over. He tried to drive the delivery, which was moving away from the batsman, over the cover. Kohli ended up slicing the ball to the cover fielder because he was nowhere near the pitch of the ball.
He then, at that point, changed his plot for to the new batsman Rajat Patidar, who is known for his twist play, yet the ball beat his inside edge and hit the highest point of the stump.
After just two overs, RCB fell to 9/2.
Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers had to work together like a master to pull the team out of a hole and win the game. However, the RCB batsmen did remember Varun Chakravarthy.
2) 3/13,match 31, IPL 2021, Abu Dhabi
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, IPL 2021 was postponed in the middle of the season, requiring the remainder of the tournament to be held in the UAE. With the return of the rivalry between RCB and KKR, what better way to begin the second leg of the season?
With the evening breeze blowing through the open stadium, fast bowlers were helped by the ball moving both ways on a lively Abu Dhabi pitch.
As was to be expected, the KKR pacers rocked RCB early, with the score at 52/4 in the ninth over.
The introduction of Varun Chakravarthy into his second spell proved disastrous for RCB.
He first got Glenn Maxwell to play a big shot with a tossed-up delivery. The ball drifted away from the batsman, causing a false shot, and then he caught Wanindu Hasaranga in front of the stumps.
Sachin Child attempted to take him on, trudging his flighted conveyance, which was bowled more full and more extensive from the batsman’s curve, just to give a straightforward catch to Nitish Rana at in reverse point.
RCB were bowled out for a paltry 92, unable to recover from the chaos!
1) 4/15, Eden Gardens, IPL 2023, Match 9
On the Eden wicket, which had two paces, Varun Chakravarthy was too hot for the RCB batsmen, and KKR scored a huge 204/7. It was only meant for one thing, given the wicket and the lack of dew: RCB batsmen moving to the tunes of the KKR turn triplet of Sunil Narine, Chakravarthy, and Suyash Sharma.
Faf Du Plessis, who was in good form, was unsure of his footwork and tried to drive a fuller-length delivery outside off through the covers, but it landed on his stumps. Chakravarthy took the big wicket.
After that, he changed his pace and bowled a faster one outside off the length, which spun into castle Maxwell.
Chakravarthy’s career-best IPL score of 4/15 was achieved because Akashdeep Singh and Harshal Patel were unable to read him as well.