Back on 'home' turf: Varun Chakravarthy chance to silence his critics

Kolkata: When Varun Chakravarthy walks up the Eden Gardens steps on Sunday evening, the 34-year-old will step onto territory he virtually owns. Of his 100 IPL wickets, 99 have come in Kolkata Knight Riders colours, and a healthy share of those have been plucked from the Eden Gardens surface that has become his second home. India’s management has taken note, and assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed that the leg-break googly bowler will again be asked to provide early breakthroughs in the powerplay.

“Varun obviously had a lot of success here,” ten Doeschate said on the eve of the match. “We’ve utilised him in a fairly standard way—one over up front, he’s our attacking option as well.”

Yet questions hover. Consecutive outings against South Africa and Zimbabwe brought him only two wickets for 82 runs, prompting speculation that opponents have decoded his bag of variations. Ten Doeschate conceded the shift. “Teams are now starting to play him a little bit differently, so we have other strategies to deploy him in different facets of the game,” he said, before underlining the bottom line: “He’s someone we turn to for wickets.”

West Indies head coach Darren Sammy, whose side must solve the Varun puzzle to keep the series alive, offered a reminder of the spinner’s pedigree. “Last time I checked he was the No. 1 bowler in T20 cricket,” Sammy noted. “We respect every opposition. We have our plans against each bowler.”

For a man whose emotions remain hidden behind an expressionless mask—teammates, not Varun himself, tend to celebrate his successes loudest—Eden Gardens offers the perfect stage to reassert his worth. An early powerplay scalp could tilt the contest India’s way and hush the murmurs surrounding his recent economy rate.

Away from the tactical talk, the squad rallied around batter Rinku Singh, who lost his father to cancer on Friday. “It’s obviously a very sad time and he’ll continue to get the love and support from everyone,” ten Doeschate said, underlining the team’s united front heading into the crucial fixture.