Varun Chakravathy's Life Has More Turns Than His Deliveries

Varun Chakravarthy has said that one of his dreams, after his cricketing days are over, is to get into filmmaking.

As and when he gets to that, we suggest that he make a movie on his life. For, it has more twists and turns than any of your regular mainstream masala offerings.

The man who will turn 34 in August later this year had not even played league-level cricket in Chennai till when he was around 26 or 27. From then on to be a potential trump card to India's fortunes in the ICC Champions Trophy is a journey that is filled with one implausible turn to another. The cliched destiny's favourite child is something you would feel like affixing on his life.

His cricketing story from 2018 when he broke into the TNPL, TN and IPL cricket teams is now kind of well documented. But his tale before that is also worthy of telling as it is one of mysterious spins, not unlike his now famed deliveries. It involves important roles for films, Dinesh Karthik and Chennai floods of 2017. 

Born to Tamil parents in the early 90s — his father C V Vindod Chakravarthy though had some Kerala connection, and his mother Malini had Karnataka links — the only thing typical about Varun was his childhood. He first went to the KV inside the CLRI campus — his family lived in the nearby Kotturpuram area. And like any Chennai kid of his background, he dabbled in cricket. 

As it happened, his first fascination was wicket-keeping, and his first hero was Dinesh Karthik — a character who will come back and make much more abiding impact later in his implausible career. At the school level as Varun showed some flair behind the stumps, his parents thought he may have a future in cricket, and he was shifted to another school 9St Patrick's) where the sport was taken more  seriously. 

But in a city where literally hundreds and hundreds of talented school cricketers vie for a few spots in district and age-level teams, Varun found the going tough as both his wicket-keeping and batting never made any major splash. In his own words, he attended at least 200 net sessions and selection trials, but never got picked in any.

An architect uneasily emerges

So by the time he reached his 12th standard, the choice before him was two. One, a sport in which he hardly showed any great spark. Two, academics. As a boy from a typical middle-class south Indian family (his dad worked for the public sector BSNL), Varun's choice had no real surprise. But even in school studies, Varun was just about middling, securing 68% in the Boards. This meant that his other dream of making it as a doctor or an avionics specialist was also nullified.

But luckily he had a flair with his hands and fingers. No, not bowling. That would have to wait. He had skills for drawing, and armed with that he enrolled himself in a 5-year architecture course with a popular private college in the outskirts of Chennai, but one with no great pedigree in cricket. Ergo, the cricketer in Varun was in exile for all those years.

Okay, he sporadically turned up in local tennis ball cricket events. But for a man who had great ambitions of international cricket, this was nothing. It was like gearing up for the Grammys by singing inside your bathroom. Varun, who brands himself an introvert, had a mind that was capable of introspection. He had an innate stoicism that did not let him brood over his life's predicament too much. 

And after his architecture course, he again chose the beaten path. He joined a private firm (named D + Y)  in the city. His architecture days (both in college and then as a profession) were uneventful cricketing-wise, but in that period he met Neha Khedekar, who was to later become his wife in 2020, and remain that one unwavering source of backing and inspiration to him. 

But by around 2013, Varun found himself in a situation like many of the batsmen facing him now feel — totally lost. Architecture, which he actually loved, was not satisfying his inner craving. There was an unease inside him, but the tough part was: Varun did not know what he wanted to do with his life then.

Varun, the cricketer — in a film though 

In a foolhardy or brave move — only future would show what it was really — Varun decided to quit architecture. One fine day, almost like in films, he went to the office, and at the lunch hour told his senior that he was calling it quits. It was that dramatic. Later, he also told Neha, whom he had started dating, that their relationship may not work as he was giving up his job. But fortunately, the Maharashtrian, who was his classmate earlier, gave him comforting words that she would be around with him no matter what.

Giving up architecture was one thing, but deciding what to do next was altogether another. And it was then Varun believed that his fortune lay with — cricket? No. He decided to throw his hat in the ring of cinema. As an assistant director to start off, as he thought he can think up stories and write scripts. 

So for a few months he tried linking up with film folks and landing himself work as an assistant director (AD). As it happened, around that time, a cricket movie in Tamil was about to get going, and Varun, with his cricketing background, considered himself as the right candidate for working as part of the crew. But his efforts were nullified as the team did not pick him as an AD. But they offered him an alternative: Would he like to play a small acting part in the film?

Varun, despite his fear for the cameras, said yes. And thus he played a nondescript role (one of the players in the club that the hero character plays for) in the Tamil film Jeeva (2014). But that somehow gave him hope to pursue his chances in the even more unpredictable world of films. Like many Tamils, Varun is a film aficionado, and is big fan of the actor (now politico) Vijay — Varun has a tattoo of Vijay’s character image from the film Thalaiva. Anyway, for the next two years, Varun endeavoured manfully in Kollywood, but the elusive break remained just that. 

Back to where he started 

So by 2017 or thereabouts, Varun life was in familiar territory - crossroads. With his film career not even taking off, Varun now understood the futility of it. So where to now? Well, Varun again chose architecture. And this time as a freelancer with his own firm and money. And he lined up a few interesting projects as well, and life, for once, looked set for him as his sky was looking bright.

Well, soon the clouds gathered. Only too literally, as it poured heavily leading to devastating floods in Chennai. Under the water went three of Varun's projects. He lost all his invested money. And again, Varun was grappling with another existentialist crisis.

Well, right in the second match he suffered an injury to his leg and it cut short his plans. As he recuperated from his injury over the next few months, Varun went back to tennis-ball cricket, and had his first fortuitous twist in his life. As he was still hampered for movement, Varun, then around 26 years of age, decided to give spin bowling a shot. Being 18-yards amateur cricket, this was by any means serious cricket. But importantly for Varun, this gave him the leeway to experiment with his deliveries.

The birth of mystery bowler

And there he figured out that there were many mysterious ways to bowl a cricket ball. It was a fascinating phase of discovery for Varun. Both as an individual as well as a cricketer. But now with a few weapons in his arsenal, Varun decided to go back to league cricket. He went to another team in the same fourth division league.

And in the first match, Varun arrived with his new bag of tricks. No prizes for guessing what happened. He was hit for many and did not pick any wicket. But luckily, Varun chose to persevere, and by the second match, he had found some grip on the ball and his game. Wickets began to accrue, and batsmen had trouble in picking him up. Suddenly, Varun found himself in bowling riches. He scalped 31 wickets in 7 limited-overs matches at an average of 8.26 and economy rate of 3.06. But it was still a lowly league in Chennai. 

However, his bowling, which had alluring mystique around, had become a talking point in Chennai's cricketing circles where words spread fast. And one thing led to another, his name was in the radar of the TNPL league teams. Karaikudi Kaalais roped him in 2017, but did not play him much.

TNPL unearths a star

A few months later Varun  found himself with KB Arun Karthik, the mercurial wicket-keeper batsman, the skipper of the Siechem Madurai Panthers in the TNPL. In 2018, the Tamil Nadu T20 league TNPL had till then seen two editions, both of which were major successes. But for  Siechem Madurai Panthers, it was an absolute disaster. It was the only team in the fray that had not managed to win even a single match over the two years. It was that bad.

The team had no more depths plumb. In that situation, the captain Arun Karthick knew his team needed new strategies and newer players. One of its first picks in the draft was Varun as the cricketing community in Chennai was awash with the talk of the arrival of a bearded mystery spinner with a stoner's look.

The 2018 TNPL league is the pivot in Varun's life so far. He didn't pick wickets by the bucketful. But he proved that he had it in him to be considered a serious cricketer. He kept the batsmen guessing and more importantly in the format, he established that he was capable of keeping the run flow in check. He became a hot property in 2018 TNPL draft where he was the first pick for Siechem Madurai Panthers. In all, he had 9 wickets in the tournament, with an economy of 4.7 and dot ball percentage of 52.08.

With TNPL conquered, can the bigger arena of IPL be far away. But how to breach the fort? Again, destiny's favourite child, got a good bounce, as it were. One morning, he cold-called one of the talent scouts of the CSK. The man barely knew Varun, but on that day he was in a good mood. Over the phone, he told Varun, whom he had never seen, to come to the CSK nets. 

And soon enough, Varun was at the practice with CSK bowling to one of its legends, Dwayne Bravo. Within a few deliveries, Varun impressed everyone and had the West Indian out also. And then entered Thala Dhoni, and Varun again wove his magic and had the great man in all sorts of trouble (a man whom he will go on to clean bowl three times in IPL games later).

But the happiness of the CSK net sessions at Chepauk could not last long as in 2018, due to local politics, CSK had to shift its base to Pune, and Varun was again thrown back into wilderness. But, as it happened, the man who had inspired him to cricket in the first place, Dinesh Karthik showed up again.

Spinner get a break in IPL 

DK always has an eye and time for local talent. He was convinced of Varun's magic. DK, who was with the KKR franchise then, talked to his bosses, and had him fly to Kolkata (Varun had made a brief appearance in their nets before without making much impact). But this time around, Varun, with a changed action and more cricketing smarts up his sleeve, was much more ready for the audition.

In the meantime, the TN cricket team understood that it had a champion bowler in its midst. Varun was picked for the State —  List A debut for Tamil Nadu — in the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy. In 9 matches, Varun gathered 22 wickets. His graph was zooming. And he was also offered his debut cap in the State's Ranji team. So in the November of 2018, Varun turned up for TN against Hyderabad at Tirunelveli — his first major brush with red ball cricket. In a high-scoring encounter on a batting paradise, Varun turned his arm over for 39 overs for just a solitary wicket.

But those overs were good enough for Varun, ever the realist, to understand that his skills were not made for the longer version of the game. And it is then he also decided to focus solely on the white ball games, especially the shortest version. And by 2019, Indian cricketing circles Varun had also become a name to contend with in the T20 format. That year, PBKS picked him for Rs 8.4 crores. Just two years earlier, Varun had lost all his money and was trapped in life's cul de sac.

Varun is perseverant

And here he was swirling in IPL riches. From then on, things have looked up — at least financially — for him. But his cricketing story since 2019 is well documented — His show for the KKR, and mystery being decoded and having a lean season, getting picked for the Indian T20 side, losing his position. But every time he has fallen, Varun has shown the heart to get up and be ready for the next challenge.   

But even by his standards for unbelievable turn of events, the out-of-blue call for him in the ODIs earlier this year against England this year stands out. And after that improbable debut, he was shoe-horned into the Champions Trophy squad which already had three gun spinners in it. Nobody thought he would get a chance with Jadeja, Axar and Kuldeep already around.

But in a team with all of them around, Varun scooped up a five-for against New Zealand in a tricky defence of a middling 249. Only the third ever fifer by an Indian in the annals of this ICC trophy. Not bad for a guy whose tryst with cricket just a decade back was while playing the part of a cricketer in a mediocre film. 

Now, what next? Who knows what Varun will pull off? As ever with his life and cricket, it is a mystery.