IPL 2021: Virat Kohli has special praise for Varun Chakaravarthy, says THIS about mystery spinner

Kolkata Knight Riders' mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy picked up 3/13 in four over as RCB were bundled out for just 92.

Kolkata Knight Riders' Varun Chakravarthy (left) is congratulated by his teammates for picking up a wicket. (Photo: ANI)

Royal Challengers Banglore captain Virat Kohli was all praise for Kolkata Knight Riders mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who helped KKR in registering their third win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday (September 20). Andre Russell and Varun Chakaravarthy heroics with the ball was followed by masterful batting from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opening batsmen as they crushed Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) by 9 wickets, chasing the target of 92 in just 10 overs.

“He’s (Varun Chakravarthy) pretty good, that’s exactly what I was saying in the dug-out, he’s going to be a key factor when he plays for India. We need to see performances like these from all the youngsters so that the bench strength of Indian cricket stays strong. And, he’s someone who is going to play in the near future for India and it’s a great sign,” Virat Kohli said during the post-match presentation.

Kohli also shed some light on the dew factor, as he said: “It was important to get a good partnership on this surface. We honestly didn`t expect that much dew to kick in so early, we couldn’t have predicted that. It looked like a good wicket to bat on first up. We were 42-odd for one and then lost about five wickets within 20 runs from there, which is a very difficult situation to come back from.

“Bit of a collapse there for us, bit of a wake-up call and might as well have this at the start of the second leg so that we know exactly what we need to work on.”

Varun Chakaravarthy and Andre Russell all smiles for the #IPLSelfie post #KKR's victory.#VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/CILx4RfTHv

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 20, 2021

RCB skipper also stated the importance of adjusting to the formats of the game. “As professional cricketers, you are expected to turn up and adjust to the formats, that’s the dynamic of world cricket today. We have never found any troubles doing that but sometimes it can take you a game to get into the tournament. You have to stay with the 8-ball, especially in this format. If not, then the other team is going to be all over you. You can’t afford to lose four or five wickets within 20 runs.

“We have five wins from eight games, we expect a loss here and there in this tournament. That’s part and parcel of things. You have to take it in your stride like you take your victories in your strides as well. We just need to be professional and stick to our strengths and make sure that we execute the plans that we have properly on the field. We have absolute confidence on this squad that we`ll be able to pull up from the next game onwards and put in strong performances,” he added.

Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer played innings of 48 and 41 respectively for Knight Riders. Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal got the only wicket for the RCB in the game. With this victory, KKR has registered their third win of the season while RCB suffered their third defeat of IPL 2021.

(with ANI inputs)