‘Had told CSK to pick him straightaway’: Harbhajan Singh reveals first brush with Varun Chakaravarthy | Sports News

2 min readUpdated: Mar 16, 2026 11:26 AM Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh backed Varun Chakaravarthy to come back strong after a 2026 T20 World Cup campaign in which he fell short of his usually high standards. Chakaravarthy himself finished as the second highest wickettaker in the tournament and India won the title, but the spinner struggled to perform against the big teams. This is in stark contrast to his form going into the T20 World Cup, with Chakaravarthy being almost unplayable in the bilateral series that India played.
Harbhajan revealed that he first noticed the Tamil Nadu cricketer in 2018 during a practice session at the nets of Chennai Super Kings. At that time, the mystery spinner was there as a net bowler, quietly testing his variations against established players. Harbhajan was impressed with Chakaravarthy’s control and variations even during that very early phase of his career.
“First things first, he is a champion bowler. I first saw him at the Chennai Super Kings nets in 2018 where he was a practice bowler. I told the CSK management to pick him straight away — which they didn’t — because even then he was often unplayable in the nets,” Harbhajan told The Times of India.
Although the opportunity with Chennai Super Kings never materialized Chakaravarthy emerged as a top performer for Kolkata Knight Riders. He was a leading figure in their 2024 title-winning campaign — taking 21 wickets in the tournament (second-highest wickets in the season). Chakaravarthy has an impressive economy of 7.57 and has taken 100 wickets from 84 T20 matches.
The success has not been only limited to the IPL; however, since making his debut in international cricket, he has been a valuable addition to the country’s T20 cricket team. Chakaravarthy has played 45 T20Is thus far for India in which he has taken 73 wickets at an average of 16.61 and best bowling figures of 5-wickets for 17 runs.
Having already reached the top of the ICC Men’s T20I Bowling Rankings with 771 rating points, the former India off-spinner believes the Tamil Nadu spinner has already proven his quality at the highest level. Harbhajan feels the mystery spinner has the skill and temperament to overcome setbacks and is confident he will bounce back strongly.
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