IND vs BAN: Varun Chakravarthy registers career-best spell - Will KKR retain him before IPL 2025 Auction?

Add as a preferred source on Google

It was a return for Varun Chakravarthy in international cricket after almost three years of exile from the India team as the spinner played against Bangladesh on Sunday (October 6).

Chakravarthy's last India appearance came on November 5 in 2021, and after 2 years and 11 months, the player has come back to the international fold, also in a scintillating fashion against Bangladesh.

Varun had a terrific season with Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024. The right-arm leg-break bowler picked up 21 wickets as KKR lifted the IPL title after a decade. Chakravarthy was called into the Indian side by his former KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir, and he hasn't disappointed at all.

IND vs BAN: Varun Chakravarthy registers best Spell

Despite a disappointing start to his spell, Chakravarthy registered his career-best bowling figures for India in the match. Although the player must have got a wicket in his second ball, but not be as Nitish Reddy dropped a sitter. Despite conceding 15 runs in the first over, the 33-year-old came back strongly.

He picked up an important wicket of Towhid Hridoy, then bamboozled Jaker Ali to disturb his timbers. Varun's final scalp of the match was Rishad Hossain as he finished with a figure of 3 for 33 in his four overs.

Along with that, Varun Chakravarthy registered his career-best spell, which is also significant for his previous stint in the Indian team. Varun only had two wickets in his previous six matches for India, but now has taken more wickets than his previous total in just a solitary encounter.

Will KKR look to retain Varun Chakravarthy?

Varun Chakravarthy was excellent for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024 but that may not be enough for him to keep his place in the KKR side ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction. The current IPL retention policy will mean that the Knights will have to invest at least Rs 11 crore for Varun, which may not be their intention at the moment.