Indian off-spinner Varun Chakravarthy didn’t concede a single boundary while giving away only 16 runs in his 4 overs in 1st T20 vs Afghanistan on Sunday.
Published: September 14, 2026, 5:09 PM IST
Share Article
https://www.india.com/sports/cricket/india-vs-afghanistan-2026-1st-t20-varun-chakravarthy-answers-his-critics-says-not-reacting-8524084/
Varun Chakravarthy (left) celebrates after claiming a wicket in 1st T20 vs Afghanistan(Photo: PTI)
IND vs AFG 2026 1st T20: Varun Chakravarthy has learnt the art of ‘not reacting to results’ while keeping the ‘process’ paramount even when the chips are downThe 35-year-old spinner, who is at the back-end of his career, had a poor T20 World Cup despite India winning the title and didn’t look good either in the IPL or in the away T20I series in England, which was cut short by a hamstring injury.
After his impressive 1/16 against Afghanistan in the opening T20I here, Chakravarthy was asked how he coped when the returns weren’t as great as they used to be during the first phase of his international career.
“What you are referring to is results; I cannot go by resultsIf I go by results, I will start reacting to each and everythingIf it goes my way, I will start being very happyIf it doesn’t go my way, I will become very sadI cannot go that waySo, the best way for me is to see the process,” Chakravarthy said at the post-match conference after India won by seven wickets.
HE IS BACKKK!!!
Varun Chakaravarthy has announced his return to the international stage in style!
He picked up 1 wicket while conceding just 16 runs in his 4 overs — The most economical bowler of the matchpic.twitter.com/4tH8VmOleS
— KKR Karavan (@KkrKaravan) September 13, 2026
“If it is a good ball and if it still differs, I will always take itBut if it is a bad ball and it is a wicket, I have to go and work on it againSo, that’s how it works,” the Kolkata Knight Riders off-spinner added.
Chakravarthy, who has 75 wickets from 49 T20Is, doesn’t believe that a player’s performance marker should only be what is written on the wickets column“See, you told it’s all about wicketsIt’s not about wicketsIt is about if I am bowling in the right place or notWhatever happens after that, it’s not in my controlSo, what’s in my control is till I pitch the ball.
“After the ball pitches, if the ball can turn or cannot turn, it’s not in my controlI’ll see till that pointIf it is still that, if it is fine, yeah, I’ll take itI don’t go by results.”
Even though the England tour didn’t go as per plan, he believed that there were some learning there too“It is just good, because the thing is England too was also good for meJust because we didn’t win, it doesn’t mean that it has gone for wasteYou get to learn a lot if you do the right thingSo, there is nothing that goes to waste.
“And as I said, today even if things wouldn’t have gone our way, we would have had the same mindset as to learn somethingEvery match is a learning and the results sometimes come our way, sometimes don’t,” he added.
He feels that one shouldn’t get too bogged down by injuries“Look, injuries are very common for all sports people and it just shows that we are working, we are giving our bestSometimes, we push beyond our limits and that is when the body gives inSo, that is when we have to take a step back and work better and come back stronger,” Chakravarthy added.
On a lighter note, he felt for the Afghanistan spinners who got some rough treatment from Abhishek Sharma, who hit seven sixes in his 32-ball-84“While I was sitting in the dressing room, I was just telling someone that against our team, batting line-up, you can’t bowl spinSo, if you bowl spin against our batting line-up, they are just going to smack left, right and centreWe are just so used to playing spinners.
“We have our top eight batsmen and anyone can take on any spinner in this worldSo, I have personally bowled against them, played against themI know how hard it isSo, yeah, I feel for the spinners,” he said.
– With PTI inputs
