If a mystery spinner is overexposed on a global scale, does he still maintain the element of mystery? While this is open for discussion, it is certain that top hitters are now not only able to read Varun Chakaravarthy’s hand, but coaches have also developed a strategy to tackle him head-on.
Two elite countries, South Africa and New Zealand, have performed remarkably well against the Tamil Nadu player, with the exception of the Pakistani team, which does not participate in the IPL or play bilateral series against India.
In his last five matches against them, including Sunday’s T20 World Cup Super-Eights match against South Africa, he has been thrashed for 208 runs in 20 overs. Despite taking nine wickets, his economy rate of 10.40 is far higher than the 7.11 he had during his career.
In what ways, then, are batters such as David Miller, Dewald Brevis, Glenn Phillips, and Finn Allen succeeding?
In contrast to the elite players who play in the IPL and now use Chakravarthy as an off-spinner who returns the ball to the right-hander, the Associate nations have had trouble understanding him.
Chakravarthy himself has acknowledged in recent media appearances that he prefers to focus more on over-spin than adding side-spin to his deliveries.
For those who don’t know, over-spin occurs when a spinner is able to move the ball forward, causing it to bounce more and take off more quickly after striking the surface. Depending on the type of spinner bowling, the ball will deviate sideways when side-spin is present.
If one watches videos of Chakravarthy’s grip, he primarily bowls the googly or carrom ball, which Brevis or someone else plays as an off-break. The carrom ball is the result of over-spin, and batters do find it easier when the pitches don’t have enough grip.
