I don’t see myself wearing a 30-40 lakh watch, says candid Varun Chakaravarthy

Remember the Richard Mille RM 27-04, a limited edition watch worth approximately Rs 20 crores, which Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya was wearing at practice during the recent Asia Cup in Dubai? If one thought it was a rather obscene display of wealth, a teammate of Pandya also shares similar sentiments, without of course naming names.

A portion of mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy’s interview with Gaurav Kapoor for the later’s popular show Breakfast with Champions has gone viral for the last couple of days.  The current world No.1 T20 bowler’s take on finances, along with other indulgences of life, has turned heads.

 The 34-year-old spinner from Tamil Nadu, a qualified architect who had quit his profession to take a plunge fulltime into cricket, shared his dilemma about buying an expensive watch. ‘’I have this guilty feeling that if I spend so much, if I have a watch worth Rs 30 lakh or 40 lakh, that amount of money actually can change someone’s life for two or three generations.

‘’One watch I bought, which was around three lakhs or something, that itself just killed me from within. I know there are people who buy more expensive stuff.

‘’See, the guys I have grown up with, some of them are still delivering food and doing all those things. I can’t even imagine wearing something like that and going to meet them. I just feel that I am disrespecting them. That’s my own thing; I am not judging anyone else.’’

In a wide ranging interview which also dwelt on the current Indian team’s work ethic under Gautam Gambhir, Varun opened up about his relationship with money. He admitted that his typical middle-class mindset has made him acutely aware of money’s power.

‘’I have had my struggle with money,’’ he said, before adding: ‘’The only investments I knew were FDs (fixed deposits). My typical middle class mindset. I know how powerful money is. If something is very powerful, you will have to use it to its full potential.

‘’What I feel is rather than just changing my lifestyle with money, you can change someone else’s life — that’s more powerful.’’