'Feels Like Rebirth': Varun Chakravarthy on 'Emotional' Return to T20Is; Credits Ravi Ashwin and TNPL For Preparation

India’s mystery-spinner, Varun Chakravarthy was pleased with his performance when he made a comeback to the T20I squad after three years. On his return, he picked up three wickets to register his career-best figures during the first T20I against Bangladesh in Gwalior on Sunday.

Chakravarthy termed the comeback an ’emotional’ one for him and a ‘rebirth’ as he returned to the national side. He focused on his preparation and does not plan on going too far ahead as he aims to continue his momentum.

“After three long years, it was emotional for me. Feels nice to be back in the Blues. It feels like a rebirth, I just want to stick to the process, that’s what I have been following in the IPL as well, I don’t want to go beyond what’s there and I just want to stay in the present, that’s why I don’t want to think too much or express too much,” said the 33-year-old spinner in the post-match interview as quoted by Cricbuzz. 

Chakravarthy credited his preparation to the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Premier League where he played for the Dindigul Dragons. He also suggested that his teammate, Ravichandran Ashwin also assisted him during the season which rewarded him eventually with a spot in India’s T20I squad.

“After IPL I played a few tournaments and one of those was TNPL, it’s a very good tournament and high standard as well. That’s a place where I work a lot, with Ash (Ashwin) bhai also, we won the championship as well. That gave me the confidence here. It was a good preparation for me for this series,” he shared.

The spinner could have had his first wicket in his very second delivery of the first over but Nitish Reddy managed to drop the catch at the square-leg region which gave Towhid Hridoy a second chance. But Chakravarthy was not too fussed about the missed opportunity and remains grateful for the chance he has received in the side.

“It could have gone my way, but that’s how cricket is, I can’t complain, thankful to God. There have been many (challenges), once you are not on the Indian side, people tend to write you off very easily. You need to stay at the highest level, again and again, you need to keep knocking on the door, thankfully this time it happened, and hopefully I can keep continuing my good work,” he concluded.