Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 7 : India's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy believes head coach Gautam Gambhir has fostered a "Spartan mentality" within the team, which leaves "no option of losing".
Once a forgotten star who lost his stardom, Varun discovered himself at the bottom of the pecking order for three years from 2021. Varun has grabbed the opportunity with both hands the previous year.
Over the last three years, he has put in the hard work to completely flip the narrative. After Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian team, Varun found his way back to the Indian team. The 34-year-old credited Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav for his resurgance in international cricket.
"Definitely one thing which I can say about [Gambhir] 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. When he is around, there is no mediocrity - you can't be mediocre in the field, that's what I feel," Varun said on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Varun has formed a formidable duo with left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the T20Is. The duo has bowled in tandem to wreak havoc with their mastery in spin, while ensuring they complement each other. While praising his partner in crime, Varun hopes to continue his partnership with Kuldeep during India's title defence in next year's T20 World Cup on home turf.
"Kuldeep is definitely one of the most experienced bowlers right now in the pool of players that we have, and he has done amazingly well," Varun said. "I bowl at the speeds of 95kph, and he bowls around 85kph, so we kind of complement each other. He has more revs and more turn, I have more speed and bounce, so till now it's been working well for us. Hopefully, we can do the same thing in the World Cup also."
Varun's debut in July 2021 didn't get off to an ideal start, with just two wickets in six matches; it seemed as if he had played his last game in the international circuit. He honed his skills on the sidelines and returned to the T20I fold in October 2024.
He has become a regular face in the shortest format of cricket and has been instrumental to India's growing prominence in T20Is, as well as their unbeaten run to the Champions Trophy earlier this year. He initially sat out in the opening games but stormed into the final XI to finish with nine wickets at an average of 15.11, with a best of 5/42, the joint-second highest in the tournament, behind New Zealand's Matt Henry (10).
"When I made my comeback again, Surya and GG [Gambhir], they spoke to me and they told me that we are looking at you as one of the wicket-takers. And they have backed me throughout. For that, I have to give them the credit," he said.
"I was out of the team for more than three years, but I did have a consecutive good IPL. For them to recognise that and bring me into the team was great for me," he added.
India recently announced its white-ball squads for the Australian tour. At the same time, Varun remained a part of the T20I leg but remained on the sidelines for ODIs. Varun explained the reason behind his omission and revealed that Gambhir wants him to continue to work on his game to improve his chances of breaking into the 50-over side.
"Basically, the conversations were around bowling longer spells. Because in T20, you maximum bowl two overs back-to-back. But in ODIs, 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, and he wants me to bat a little more up the order in the domestic circuit and improve on my batting," he said.