India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has said that Varun Chakravarthy has been a different player since his international comeback.
He reckons that the spinner has become mentally tougher and plays with a smile on his face. Making an excellent figure of 5/42 during the Champions Trophy debut match against New Zealand which helped the side to top the group A points table ahead of semi-finals clash.
“The way he left in 2021 and the way he has come back, there are two different Varun Chakravarthys,” told Suryakumar Yadav.
“He has become a little tough mentally, yet he is smiling a lot and taking everything in his stride irrespective of what happens on the field which is very good from a cricketer’s point of view.”
Varun Chakravarthy went on to pick two wickets – Travis Head and Ben Dwarshuis during the semi finals clash against Australia in the semi finals of the tournament.
“I am really happy for him. He deserves everything (for) what he has been doing and all the recognition for what has been happening with him,” Suryakumar added.
“He has been a really hard working athlete since 2021; I have been watching him and have spoken with him a lot of times since he made his comeback to international cricket.”
“At the end of the day it’s all about your skill and what skills you offer to the team. If it’s in the best interest of the team, then you have to pick those bowlers.” said Suryakumar Yadav.
“As soon as we go to our house, it’s like a family, so we don’t think about that, that we have three captains or we have four captains. We think that we are one team,” he said.
“It’s as good as an institution where we have learned a lot, grown over there, and gone on to play for India. We work as a unit when we get into that dressing room,” he added.
While Hardik Pandya is Mumbai’s captain, the five time winners also boast with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah.
“Yes, there are a lot of captains in the team, but (when) we sit together, (be it) five people, seven, (or) ten, we take a call… how do we want to take the ship forward?” said India’s T20I captain.
“When I started playing my cricket, it was all red ball. Slowly, I came into white ball formats and then I was introduced to ODIs and then T20Is,” he said.
“It’s important, that’s why I play all the formats because I enjoy the sport. I love playing this sport with a lot of passion and I take one format at a time,” SKY concluded.
