KKR’s spin doctors Sunil-Varun continue to keep rivals guessing

The crucial four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at Kolkata's Eden Gardens on Wednesday, 20 May — which kept Kolkata Knight Riders’ heads above water — saw spin twins Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy sharing just one wicket between them. However, their impact in the middle overs of the rain-affected match — which saw some grip off the surface — reined in the likes of a Hardik Pandya or Tilak Varma, restricting Mumbai Indians to a modest total.

Much like KKR’s late-season upswing, the ‘odd couple’ of IPL folklore came into its own in the second half of the tournament. It’s something which Varun, a thinking cricketer, forecast more than a month back as he felt that the tiring wickets may offer some purchase for spinners later on. The wickets column may not match some of their prolific seasons in the past, but their commitment to the team cause has been exemplary.

While the ageless Narine has managed to retain his place among the top-10 with 15 wickets, Varun has had a chequered season and a brush with injury. The latest one grabbed eyeballs as he has now played back-to-back matches with an injured left toe, his limp conspicuous as he walked back to his bowling mark. His playing on despite injury has not escaped the BCCI's notice but then, the 34-year-old former architect from Chennai feels he owes it to the franchise, which picked him out of obscurity ahead of the 2020 season.

Last night, Varun may have gone wicketless but finished with figures of 4-0-28-0 to keep things tight. Waxing eloquent, assistant coach Shane Watson said at a late-night media conference: ‘’I’m not exactly sure of where he is on his rehab journey at the moment. All I do know is he’s obviously playing through a bit of pain at the moment, which just shows how brave he is and how much he wants to be here to be able to contribute for KKR.

‘’He’s still bowling beautifully. It’s been brilliant to be able to see just the turnaround from the first few games of the season to the impact he’s been able to consistently have every single game. We are so lucky to be able to have someone of Varun’s skill and also his desperation to be able to be here and want to play for KKR because with the pain that he’s managing... We’re very grateful for everything that he continues to do for KKR.’’

The KKR management, on their part, have been unwavering in their faith and have retained the duo time and again despite criticism from a section of fans. When Narine was barred for bowling with a suspect action, they had his back, and the West Indian made his 200th appearance this season apart from becoming the first overseas bowler to claim 200 IPL wickets.

Varun, on the other hand, became the third KKR bowler to claim 100 wickets after Narine and Andre Russell this season. He is another KKR legend in the making as the Narine-Varun combine has been one for the ages for the Purple Army.

It’s been a team effort on the part of KKR, which has now won six of its last seven matches — with the likes of Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell or the forgotten Manish Pandey putting their hands up. However, the ‘old firm’ of Narine — now in his 14th season for KKR — and Varun has been its go-to when it comes to applying the brakes or providing breakthroughs.