NEW DELHI: Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy expressed his joy and relief after making a comeback to Team India following a three-year gap, describing the experience as feeling ‘like a rebirth’.
Chakravarthy, whose last international appearance came during the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, acknowledged the challenges he faced during his time away from the national team, including injuries.
But what better way to stage a return as Chakravarthy took three wickets for 31 runs, his best T20I figures, to help bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in the first match, a total India overhauled with 49 balls to spare in Gwalior and lead the three-match series 1-0.
“After three long years, it was definitely emotional for me. Feels nice to be back in the Blues. It feels like a rebirth, I just want to stick to the process, that’s what I have been following in the IPL as well, I don’t want to go beyond what’s there and I just want to stay in the present, that’s why I don’t want to think too much or express too much,” Chakravarthy said, while talking to official broadcasters, after the match.
Chakravarthy also gave credit to star Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who helped him a lot during his time in TNPL.
“After IPL I played a few tournaments and one of those was TNPL, it’s a very good tournament and of a high standard as well. That’s a place where I work a lot, with Ash (Ashwin) bhai also, we won the championship as well, That gave me the confidence here. It was good preparation for me for this series.
(A dropped catch off his bowling in his 1st over) It could have gone my way, but that’s how cricket is, I can’t complain, thankful to God. There have been many (challenges), once you are not in the Indian side, people tend to write you off very easily. You need to stay at the highest level, again and again you need to keep knocking the door, thankfully this time it happened, hopefully I can keep continuing my good work,” Chakravarthy concluded.
At 33, Chakravarthy had spent an extended period on the sidelines, missing 86 matches between his last appearance and his return against Bangladesh. This marks the second-highest number of T20Is missed between two appearances for India. Only Khaleel Ahmed, who missed 104 matches, has been absent for a longer stretch.
Most T20Is missed for India between two appearances
- 104 Khaleel Ahmed (2019-24)
- 86 Varun Chakravarthy (2021-24)
- 73 Sanju Samson (2015-20)
- 70 Shivam Dube (2020-23)