# Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy Vinod (born 29 August 1991) is an Indian cricketer who plays for the national team as a leg spin bowler. He made his T20I debut in July 2021 and ODI debut in February 2025. He plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. He was a member of the Indian team that won the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.

## Early life

Chakravarthy was born on 29 August 1991 in Bidar, Karnataka. His father Vinod Chakravarthy, an ITS officer for BSNL, is half-Tamil and half-Malayali, while his mother Malini is a Kannadathi. He was brought up in Adyar, Chennai.
He did his schooling in Chennai, at Kendriya Vidyalaya CLRI and then St. Patrick's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, where he played cricket as a wicket-keeper but quit the sport to focus on academics. He obtained a bachelor's degree in architecture from SRM University. At age 25, he gave up his job as an architect to pursue cricket professionally. Starting out as a pace bowler, a knee injury in early 2017 kept him out of action for six months, after which he turned to spin bowling.

## Domestic career

Chakravarthy came into the limelight during the 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League where his 9 wickets at an economy rate of 4.70 helped Madurai Panthers win their maiden title. He made his List A debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 20 September 2018. He was the leading wicket-taker for Tamil Nadu in the tournament, with 22 dismissals in 9 matches. He made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy on 12 November 2018.
In December 2018, he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab in the player auction for the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the price of 8.4 crores. He made his Twenty20 debut for the team on 27 March 2019. His first over went for 25 runs, the highest number of runs conceded by a bowler on debut in the IPL. He was released by the Kings XI Punjab ahead of the 2020 IPL auction. In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League. On 24 October 2020, he took his first five-wicket haul in the IPL, with figures of 5 wickets for 20 runs, against the Delhi Capitals in Abu Dhabi. He was Kolkata Knight Riders' highest wicket-taker in the 2021 IPL.
Chakravarthy was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2024 Indian Premier League with 21 dismissals at an average of 19.14 and economy rate of 8.04. He took 18 wickets in 6 matches for Tamil Nadu at the 2024–25 Vijay Hazare Trophy and finished second on the wicket-takers' list behind Arshdeep Singh.

## International career

In October 2020, he was named in India's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Australia. However, on 9 November 2020, Chakravarthy was ruled out of the squad after suffering an injury. In February 2021, he was named in India's T20I squad for their series against England.
In June 2021, he was named in India's One Day International (ODI) and T20I squads for their series against Sri Lanka. He made his T20I debut on 25 July 2021, for India against Sri Lanka, taking the wicket of Dasun Shanaka. In September 2021, Chakravarthy was named in India's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. He went wicket-less in his three appearances in the tournament.
In October 2024, he made his international comeback after nearly 3 years in the first T20I against Bangladesh at Gwalior, where he picked 3/31. His maiden T20I five-wicket haul of 5/17 came against South Africa in Gqeberha in November 2024.
In 2025, Chakravarthy won the player of the series award in the five-match T20I series against England, after taking 14 wickets including his second five-wicket haul of 5/24. He was then named in the ODI squad against England and made his ODI debut at Cuttack. At 33 years and 164 days old, he became the second oldest ODI debutant for India after Farokh Engineer.
In February 2025, he was named in India's 15-member squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. He took 5/42 in a group stage match against New Zealand, his maiden ODI five-for in only his second ODI appearance. He took two wickets each in the semifinal against Australia and the final against New Zealand, to finish as the tournament's joint second-highest wicket-taker with 9 wickets in 3 matches at an average of 15.11.

## Personal life

Varun Chakravarthy also made a cameo appearance in the 2014 Indian Tamil-language sports drama film Jeeva as a club cricketer. On 11 December 2020, he married his longtime girlfriend Neha Khedekar in a closed ceremony in Chennai.
On 3 May 2021, Varun Chakravarthy, along with his Kolkata Knight Riders teammate Sandeep Warrier, tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore was called off. Ultimately, the tournament was suspended.