Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakravarthy said his recent struggles were due to pitches and not because of any “mistakes” in his bowling, while also responding to criticism from outside.The spinner returned to form with figures of 3/14 on a slow Eden Gardens surface, helping Kolkata Knight Riders register their first win after six matches, beating Rajasthan Royals by four wickets.When asked about his difficult phase since the T20 World Cup Super Eights match against South Africa on February 22, Chakravarthy responded, “Bowlers will concede runs. Which game are you talking about?”His dip in form began during that stage, when he was hit by David Miller and Dewald Brevis, and it continued into the IPL.
Despite taking 14 wickets in the T20 World Cup alongside Jasprit Bumrah, he went at over 11 runs an over in the later matches and picked up only five wickets in the last five games.In IPL 2026, he conceded 48 runs in four overs in the opening match against Mumbai Indians and took four matches to get his first wicket.Chakravarthy said there was no issue with his bowling. “Just because I’ve taken three wickets today, I don’t want to make a sweeping statement.
That’s the nature of the game.”“In the next match, if the wicket has nothing in it, that’s going to happen to every spinner. As you saw, initially every spinner was struggling. That’s how it is,” he said, as cited by news agency PTI.“Once the pitches start slowing down, that’s when we come into the game and become more effective. So it’s the nature of the game and we can’t change it. I don’t think much about it.”He added, “I wasn’t making any mistakes — it was because of the pitches.
I’m very tough on myself; if I don’t do well, I analyse what went wrong.”“But the pitches earlier had nothing for spinners. If you see other spinners, it was the same for everyone. It’s good that there is something in the pitch now.”He said spinners become effective only when conditions help them. “Once there is something in the pitch, I go back to my strength — attacking the stumps.”“But if there is nothing in the pitch, that’s when bowlers start getting confused, even look clueless, and that happens to everyone.“It has happened to the best of the best. So no one should be judged on just one good or bad performance.”On suggestions that he changed his pace and lengths, he said, “My speed has been the same. I haven’t changed anything in speed or length.“I’ve only tweaked my lines a bit… more cramping lines, not just the fourth stump channel but also wider on off or leg. I’m not sticking only to the stumps.”Chakravarthy said the win was important for KKR after a slow start under captain Ajinkya Rahane.
He credited head coach Abhishek Nayar for keeping the team focused and said there were emotional moments in the dressing room.“Very, very significant. I can tell you I saw many tears in the dressing room today, which we didn’t even see in the year we won the IPL in 2024,” he said.“The main credit goes to the coaching staff because they didn’t let the outside noise affect us.”“There were too many people making judgments which were totally baseless. At such times, you need a strong core, and we have that.”
