Efficiency, not evolution, the mystery code

IPL 2023: Varun Chakravarthy cut a lone figure last IPL. Having been retained Kolkata Knight Riders in the lead up to the full-fledged player auctions, the 2022 season was every bit a forgetful one, but one that would ultimately teach him invaluable lessons. In 2021, he was the toast of the IPL, the 18 wickets he picked up that season put him in India’s T20 squad for the T20 World Cup in the UAE. In a tournament where India exited in the group stages, Varun was one of the casualties.
It would be interesting to hear from Varun what sort of impact that tournament had on him. In the six matches he played, he got only two wickets, but had an economy rate of 5.86 and as India went about changing their T20 set up, Varun disappeared into thin air and headed into last year’s IPL short on confidence.
In the middle, it showed. For a mystery spinner who had made a name for himself sticking to basics and playing to his strengths, there was something off about Varun that season. At times it looked as if he was laboured in his run-up; in most matches, he was giving a lot more flight to the ball than he had ever done; the accuracy one used to see in him had disappeared and with every game, the batsmen seemed to be picking his variations without any trouble.

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Then in the middle of the tournament Varun even revealed that he is working on a new variation of leg-spin. Maybe he was just bluffing or he was genuinely trying a new variation, but the calmness that he usually showed was missing and it was evident.
And after a run of three successive matches where he went wicketless and didn’t finish his quota of four overs, he was benched Kolkata. Six wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 8.51 – his highest in a season where he has played more than 7 matches – looked ominous for Varun.
“Varun was going on a journey where everyone has been at some stage of their career, where you want to improve the game,” Sriram Krishnamurthy, who has been coaching Varun at Madurai Panthers in the Tamil Nadu Premier League told The Indian Express. “When you have that mindset, you go searching for something extra and it becomes a trial and error method. Be it the run-up or being slower through the air… he had tried these things to evolve as a bowler. He wanted to add more layers to his bowling, which was understandable because that is what all top players do. They are constantly looking to evolve. But in reality it didn’t give him the results he was looking for in the IPL,” Sriram said.
With Sriram, Varun would go on a self discovery session, where he figured out what worked for him and what didn’t. For instance, Varun soon realised that during the IPL, batsmen were able to pick him off the surface because he was giving the ball more air time. Similarly, the slow run up meant, he was not getting the momentum he had before. With Varun being Madurai’s main strike-bowler, Sriram would keep reminding the spinner what worked for him during the successful phase in his career that took him from TNPL to the IPL and to the Indian team. During every session, the message was simple and clear: Don’t try to evolve a lot. Work to your strength and keep repeating it every day.

High release point advantage
“The reason why Varun is successful compared to other mystery spinners is he has some natural traits that allow him to. For instance, his height and release point allows him to get extra bounce off the wicket. A mystery spinner who is short, even if he bowls into the wicket, he will not get the extra bounce, it will just skid on. With Varun, because of his release points, the ball most often hits the sticker part of the bat. Plus, he is not giving much time for the batsman to pick him off the pitch. When you have these things in favour and it is going to be there for lifetime, it is about understanding it and using it smartly,” Sriram said.
Against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday, Varun appeared at his usual best, accounting for four wickets including that of Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Harshal Patel and Akash Deep to return with figures of 3.4-0-15-4. In terms of gaining the confidence back, this spell would have done him a world of good, especially after the hard yards he had put in recently even with regards to improving his fitness levels. On the night, Varun also got validation that the mystery element still remains with him and batsmen still struggle to pick him.
“That fear (being decoded) is always there with mystery spinners, but the reality is they can control that as well. They just have to understand why someone is picking them better than before. Is it because of their lack of control or if they are reading them better. With Varun what I felt was like he wanted to be one step ahead of the batsman as he saw it as an evolution. At times, bowlers search for different things, when there is no need for it and that is what was happening with Varun,” Sriram said.