Varun Chakaravarthy recently played a key role in India’s Asia Cup 2025 triumph. The mystery spinner has been working with head coach Gautam Gambhir for quite some time. The two were together as player and mentor when KKR clinched the IPL title in 2024.
Varun has established himself as India’s leading spinner after his return to the T20I fold under Gambhir’s coaching. However, he is yet to take his career beyond the shortest format, with chances in ODI cricket being limited while Tests aren't even in consideration.
On Tuesday (October 7), Varun Chakaravarthy opened up on the conversations he had with Gambhir about his ODI career, revealing that the coach has advised him to bat higher in the batting order while playing domestic tournaments and also try to bowl longer spells.
"Basically, the conversations were around bowling longer spells. Because in T20, you maximum bowl two overs back-to-back. But in ODI, you have to bowl five to six overs back-to-back, which I did work on and I was able to do it in the Champions Trophy," Chakravarthy said in response to a query by NDTV on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai.
"Nothing much and definitely, he wants me to bat a little more up the order in the domestic circuit and improve on my batting," he added.
When asked about his Test ambitions, Chakravarthy made it clear that he is open to play in all three formats for India and is preparing himself for the same.
"It's again selection. I would like to play every match India is playing but it's up to the selectors," he replied.
During the chat, Chakaravarthy also described Gambhir as a 'spartan' who always wants to go for the kill.
"I have already worked with him in the IPL and we won that IPL, so nothing new to me because I have already been around him. But definitely one thing which I can say about him is he brings a 'Spartan' mentality to the team where there is no option of losing, you just have to bring your best and give everything on the ground and later on, whatever happens, happens. But when he is around, there is no mediocrity, you can't be mediocre in the field, that's what I feel," he remarked.
