Varun Chakravarthy opened up on his unusual career path
Photo : AP
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Varun Chakravarthy took a five-wicket haul vs New Zealand
- Varun was an architect before taking up cricket
- Varun made his ODI debut last month vs England
More than three years after a disastrous 2021 T20 World Cup led to a long exile from the Indian team, life came full circle for Varun Chakravarthy at the Dubai International Stadium as he marked his Champions Trophy debut for India with a five-wicket haul vs New Zealand.
Playing only the second ODI of his career, the 33-year-old star finished with figures of 5/43 as the Indian team sealed a 44-run victory over New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium and entered the semi-finals unbeaten.
While Chakravarthy became India's oldest ODI debutant outside their inaugural match in 1974 last month, he made his T20I debut in 2021 but spent three years on the sideline before earning a comeback in the Bangladesh series last year after which there has been no looking back with record-breaking display in the South Africa and England series.
While Chakravarthy has made a name for himself after taking the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm for Kolkata Knight Riders, his career path is a unique story as he took up the sport at the age of 26, which is generally when most cricketers star to hit their peak. The star spinner spoke about his unprecedented rise after the match against New Zealand revealed he wanted to become an architect and make movies.
"So, I started cricket very late, pretty late. When I was 26, I started cricket. Before that, my dreams were all about being an architect and making movies. So, I've had different career paths. So, it has been different. After 26 is when I started dreaming about cricket. And all those things are happening. So yeah, it's been good right now," said Varun in the post-match press conference.
India will now face Australia in the semi-final on Tuesday (March 4) at the Dubai International Stadium. It remains to be seen if India stick to the same combination of playing four spinners after Varun replaced Harshit Rana in the team or if they go back to their old strategy. If the Men in Blue decide to pick another pace, Varun has given the team a major selection headache as dropping him will not be a straight forward call.
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