Varun Chakravarthy Vinod is an Indian cricketer born on 29 August 1991 who represents Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket and plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL as a leg-spin bowler. He made his international debut for India in July 2021.
He was born in Bidar, Karnataka, and grew up in Chennai, where he developed his cricketing skills. In the early stage, he pursued a career in architecture, and switched to professional cricket at age 25, leaving his job to follow his passion.
Recent Achievement
During Sunday’s (February 9) second ODI of the three-match ODI series against England at the Barbati Stadium in Cuttack, Varun Chakravarthy received an ODI cap in recognition of his outstanding performance in T20Is over the past several months. Just minutes before the toss, veteran Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja gave Chakravarthy his ODI cap. The 33-year-old took the place of Kuldeep Yadav.
Early Career
Varun Chakravarthy made his List A debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy and his first-class debut in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy. He was bought by Kings XI Punjab for 8.4 crores in the 2019 IPL auction, debuting in the same year but had a rough start. Released by Punjab, he joined Kolkata Knight Riders in 2020, taking his first IPL five-wicket haul later that year.
He was named to India’s T20I squad in 2020 but was ruled out due to injury. In 2021, he debuted for India in T20Is and was included in the T20 World Cup squad.
Chakravarthy also appeared in the 2014 Tamil film Jeeva and married Neha Khedekar in December 2020. In May 2021, he tested positive for COVID-19, causing a suspension of the IPL.