Chakravarthy a very unique bowler; has the ability: Kumble

'A lot of spinners have impressed, not just the usual ones.'

Spin legend Anil Kumble is happy that Kolkata Knight Riders' leggie Varun Chakravarthy is back in his element having sorted his technical issues with regards to action and speed of his deliveries.

Chakravarthy, who played in the T20 World Cup in 2021, had two good seasons of IPL (2020 and 2021) in which he picked as many as 25 wickets.

However, his performance dipped last season as he managed only six wickets from 11 games with an economy rate of nearly nine runs per over.

In IPL 2023, despite KKR not having a great season so far, Chakravarthy has fared well with the ball, with 13 wickets from eight games at an economy rate of 8.06 per over.

"Varun is certainly a very unique bowler. He has the ability. I am really happy that he has sort of worked things around. Because for a bowler like Varun, the action and speed that he bowls at, if the speed drops, then he is not that effective," Kumble, an IPL expert for JioCinema, said on Friday evening during a virtual interaction.

"This year, he has got back the speed that he was bowling at (earlier) and the trajectory, and also the nip off the surface. And the other fact also remains, that now that the IPL is moving around every city, he has adjusted to that, and it certainly helps his style of bowling," he further explained.

The legendary leg-spinner is also happy that Mayank Markande is once again bowling effective googlies for Sunrisers Hyderabad this season.

"There are a lot of players who have been  performing really well and Varun is one of them. He was a part of the team but through injury he did not have a great IPL last season. A lot of spinners have impressed, not just the usual ones like Rashid (Khan) or (Yuzvendra) Chahal or (Ravichandran) Ashwin or (Ravindra) Jadeja," he said.

He also praised veterans Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra, who have been impressive for their franchises.

"(Ravi) Bishnoi has been really good, Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra have done exceptionally well. One spinner who has done well and made a comeback is Mayank Markande. He bowled well for Mumbai in his debut season. He has got his googlies back along with the pace and the accuracy," he said.

Kumble said Mumbai Indians' performance in the next week could determine whether India captain Rohit Sharma should be taking a break, as suggested by another great Sunil Gavaskar recently.

"It all depends on how MI go along. Whichever team does not qualify, their Indian players will be available (to leave earlier) for WTC final. It all depends on how IPL progresses, we will know in the next one week where Mumbai Indians are.

"If they move up, then Rohit needs to be here for the play-offs. If they don't qualify, some of the players will be available and the earlier you go to England, the better for them," Kumble said.

Kumble feels that he doesn't see the IPL points table undergoing sea change in the coming weeks.

"Mumbai has the capability, they have done it in the past. Punjab are in the middle, if their fitness concerns are sorted then they have an opportunity. KKR had the perfect schedule that came through.

"For anyone to turn around you need a schedule that works for you. RCB was a perfect game for them, they had beaten them before coming to Chinnaswamy. There are things happening (for KKR), they have to happen in one game," he said.

Kumble believesd that the introduction of 'Impact Player' rule has led to lot of 200-plus scores in IPL 2023.

"The rule is still evolving but it certainly has made an impact on freeing up a few batters, so you see a lot more 200 plus scores this season, than what we saw in the previous seasons," Kumble said.

"You have an extra batter and a bowler, which means you have a perfect all-rounder despite not having one. Most teams previously had one or one and half all-rounders.

"But this season, every team can fill the gap by using the impact player. Some teams have focused too much on the impact player and then picked their XI while some of the teams have used it very effectively," he said.

The former Punjab Kings coach said it will be too early to say if Sam Curran, who has captained them in this season with Shikhar Dhawan injured, can be a long-term leadership option.

"Sam Curran has certainly done a very good job as a stop-gap for Shikhar's absence. Punjab has the potential to be in the top four. It all depends on a few things to go their way. But in terms of captaincy, it is a bit too early to even think of who could lead Punjab going forward."

• IPL 2023