Impressed with Varun Chakravarthy's performance in IPL 2020, says Sachin Tendulkar

The 29-year-old Chennai born Chakravarthy, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, has picked up 12 wickets to be the leading wicket-taker for his side.

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MUMBAI: Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar heaped praise on Varun Chakravarthy, who on Monday (October 26) earned his maiden India call-up for T20 Internationals against Australia. The batting maestro said he has been impressed by the mystery spinner's variations and calm head during the ongoing IPL in the UAE.

"Varun has bowled well throughout this tournament (IPL). And very rarely he has given a little more runs at this level," Tendulkar said in a video shared on 100MB.

"... What happens is everybody is seeing how will Sunil Narine bowl, so normally when Narine bowls, there is more pressure on the bowler from the other end and batsman try and attack him more." According to Tendulkar, Chakravarthy has not rattled despite bowling most of the times in pressure situations.

Chakravarthy, 29 and a professional architect, has so far bagged 12 wickets, including a five-wicket haul, in 10 IPL games for Kolkata Knight Riders, and impressed one and all. He has also picked up the first five-for of this IPL. In domestic circuit, he plays for Tamil Nadu. His performance in the ongoing IPL 2020 was rewarded when the selectors picked him as the lone new face in the Indian T20 squad for the upcoming tour of Australia.

"Varun has been extremely successful and the variation which I am seeing, the confidence which I am seeing, he is able to disguise the balls, googlies," said Tendulkar, who holds numerous records to his name.

"He has been a consistent performer and I am impressed with his performance because he has bowled in many pressure situations and he has not been rattled in those situations. He looked pretty balanced and confident," the cricket icon said.

According to Tendulkar, if a bowler has confidence in his abilities and clarity in mind, then 30-40 per cent of the battle is won. "When you are on the run-up, there are several things going in mind if you are confident and sure of what you have to execute, then the bowler's challenge reduces a bit. "Of course the ball has to be bowled from the crease, but your body follows exactly what your mind is thinking," said Tendulkar. 

(With PTI inputs)