Following India's seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan, spinner Varun Chakaravarthy opened up about focusing on his bowling process over results and feeling for opposition spinners against India's aggressive batting lineup.
Following a tough stretch at the tail end of the 2026 T20 World Cup and an early IPL slump with Kolkata Knight Riders—where he suffered a hairline fracture in his left foot and conceded 105 runs in nine wicketless overs across three games—Varun Chakaravarthy bounced back with figures of 4-0-16-1 during India's seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the first T20I at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Despite returning to high-standard figures, the 35-year-old Tamil Nadu mystery spinner emphasized that he does not evaluate himself solely by match metrics. 'I cannot go by results. If I go by results, I will start reacting to each and everything. If it goes my way, I will start being very happy. If it doesn’t go my way, I will become very sad. I cannot go that way. The best way for me is to see the process. If it is a good ball and if it is hit for a six, I will always take it. But if it is a bad ball and it is a wicket, I have to go and work on it again. So that is how it works,' Varun told reporters.
Elaborating on his process-driven rationale, Varun added that outcome control ends once the ball is released. 'It is not about wickets. Whatever happens till I pitch the ball is in my control. After that, it is not in my control. So what is in my control is till I pitch the ball. After the ball pitches, it may turn or not turn,' he said.
Varun also expressed empathy for the Afghanistan spinners, who faced a tough night against India's aggressive left-handed batting duo of Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan. 'While sitting in the dressing room, I was just telling someone that against our batting line-up, you can’t bowl spin. They are just going to smack left, right and centre. I have personally bowled against them. I know how hard it is. So, yeah, I feel for the Afghan spinners,' Varun stated.
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Sport. Photo courtesy The Hindu Sport.