Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy termed his comeback into the India side after three long years as a “rebirth” and “emotional moment” even as he thanked legendary R Ashwin for helping him grow in confidence during last edition of Tamil Nadu Premier League. India chased down Bangladesh’s meagre total of 127 with 49 balls to spare after Varun’s fine spell of 3/31 that left the visitors reeling, as the Suryakumar Yadav’s side took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. “After three long years, it was definitely emotional for me. Feels nice to be back in the Blues. It feels like a rebirth, I just want to stick to the process, that’s what I have been following in the IPL as well,” Varun told broadcasters ‘Jio Cinema’ after the match.
Varun troubled the Bangladesh batters who failed to read him. Among them was middle-order batter Jaker Ali who had his stumps castled with a ball that turned back in.
The 33-year-old spinner, playing only his seventh T20I, added that, he wants to just soak in the moment and not look too far ahead.
“I don’t want to go beyond what’s there and I just want to stay in the present, that’s why I don’t want to think too much or express too much. After IPL I played few tournaments and one of those was TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League); it’s a very good tournament and high standard as well.” Varun added that working with India off-spinner R Ashwin during TNPL really worked well for him and boosted his morale.
“That’s a place (TNPL) where I work a lot, with Ash (Ashwin) bhai also, we won the championship as well. That gave me the confidence here. It was a good preparation for me for this series.
On the dropped catch off his bowling in his first over, Varun said it’s part of the game.
“It could have gone my way, but that’s how cricket is, I can’t complain, thankful to God. There have been many (challenges), once you are not in the Indian side, people tend to write you off very easily. You need to stay in the highest level, again and again you need to keep knocking the door, thankfully this time it happened. Hopefully, I can keep continuing my good work.”
Pace bowler Arshdeep Singh, who was declared Player of the Match, was mighty impressed with Mayank Yadav’s bowling on his comeback from a long injury layoff.
“Even my normal balls felt like slower balls compared to his (Mayank’s) pace. Really excited the way everyone bowled, especially Mayank,” he said.
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