How 'clarity' transformed Varun Chakravarthy into a force to be reckoned with

In the successful redemption arc of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy clarity has played a key role in his rise to the starsOnce a forgotten star who found himself at the bottom of the pecking order for the last three years has grabbed the opportunity with both hands since the dawn came in Indian cricketVaruns debut didnt kick off on an ideal note with just two wickets in six matches it seemed as if he had his swansong in the international circuitBut in three years he completely flipped the narrative with 13 scalps in his next five games averaging 884 and a strike rate of 92On Sunday when India fell in Gqeberha Varun added a mustread chapter in his career after picking up his careerbest figures of 517 in his fourover spellWhen skipper Suryakumar Yadav handed him the ball to bowl the sixth over South Africas score stood at 331 He varied his pace in the final over of the powerplay and got the breakthrough with a googly to pick up Reeza Hendrickss scalp while giving away just two runsHe continued to hit the right lengths extracted most out of the surface and made South African batters perish in front of his spin masteryAlso ReadKeep him away from media Manjrekar deems Gambhirs demeanour unworthyVaruns mystery continued to haunt South Africa with Marco Jansen 7 Heinrich Klaasen 2 and David Miller 0 melting away in front of Varuns stroke of geniusBut the question arises what changed for Varun in those three years when he bid his due time on the sidelinesI had to go to the drawing board and check out all my videos and what I figured out was that I was bowling sidespin and it was not working out in the higher level so I had to change everything about my bowling Varun told the host broadcaster after the gameIt took me two years and I started bowling that in the local leagues TNPL Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Vijay Hazare Trophy and IPL also It worked out there so Ive started bowling it on the international stage and its working out for me he addedTo understand his game better Varun needed more time and the only way to achieve it was playing more cricketThe only thing I could do through the tough period was play lots of cricket he said I started playing a lot of the domestic leagues in India and that definitely helped me understand my game better and thats what helped me Varun notedVarun returned to the international setup on the back of two successful stints with the Kolkata Knight Riders KKR in the cashrich Indian Premier League IPL Across both seasons he scythed 41 wickets in 28 innings for the KnightsIn IPL 2024 when the Knights lifted the title for the third consecutive time Varun closely worked with the India head coach Gautam Gambhir who then held the position of KKRs team mentorWe played the Bangladesh tour and he Gambhir was coaching the team and we spoke a lot and he gave me a lot of role clarity He told me even if you go for 30 40 runs it doesnt matter All you have to look is to pick wickets So thats your role in the team Varun saidMore than confidence I would say Im more focusing towards clarity and thats helping me more right now Sometimes I feel confidence can lead me to a wrong direction and can make me believe that I can do something which is impossible So I feel focusing on clarity is better Ive focused on that more he addedA new chapter will unfold in Varuns redemption arc in the third T20I against South Africa on Wednesday in CenturionWith agency inputs