India's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy walked down memory lane as he shared a heartwarming story about his journey from being an ardent Chennai Super Kings fan to bowling to Mahendra Singh Dhoni himself.
Speaking on popular web series, Breakfast with Champions, the 34-year-old spinner recalled how how he once followed the CSK team bus, only to later find himself facing the legendary Dhoni in the nets.
'The hotel where CSK stay and the Chepauk Stadium, in between, is my house. It used to be jam-packed. There have been times when I would follow the bus, but to cut to that, I was bowling to MSD. It was a great experience. There were a few times where I got the better of him, but many times he smashed the life out of me,' Chakravarthy said.
Chakravarthy, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), recalled how a late-night chat with the franchise co-owner Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, changed his mindset.
'The year that we won (the IPL), 2024, we conceded 261 against Punjab. We were like, how did we end up conceding 261, as we had a great bowling line-up. That night, I got a message from Shah Rukh's manager. He wanted to come to my room. We spoke for 40 minutes. I told him that I made a mistake. He told me that instead of trying to do something magical, just do the basics. Maybe the team was just expecting me to bowl a normal ball, but I was going behind the magic ball,' the spinner added.
Chakravarthy has 100 wickets in 84 IPL matches at an average of 23.85, with a five-wicket haul to his name. He has also won the IPL 2024 title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), taking 21 wickets in the campaign at an average of 19.14.
In 24 T20Is for India, Varun has taken 40 wickets at an average of 15.60, with best figures of 5/17 and an economy rate of 6.89. He has two five-wicket hauls in T20Is. In four ODIs, he has taken 10 wickets at an average of 19.00, with a fifer to his name.