Varun Chakravarthy running on to the ground to embrace Rinku Singh before planting a kiss on his helmet will go down as one of the most emotional moments in Kolkata Knight Riders' campaign this season.

If Varun's 3/14 gave the Knights a chance to reclaim their lost confidence against Rajasthan Royals, Rinku Singh reignited hope with an unbeaten 53 off 34 balls that earned them their first win in seven matches.

KKR finally gave their fans a whiff of cheer before the prolonged home break because of the Assembly elections. The sense of relief at Varun salvaging his magic was palpable too.

The mystery spinner had conceded 273 runs in 23 overs, leaving him with an economy of 11.86, in the last six matches of the T20 World Cup. In their opener against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, he bowled a wicketless spell of 48 with Rohit Sharma tearing him apart.

But Sunday afternoon was different. He consistently found the good length and troubled the batters with his mix of leg breaks and googlies. The variations in pace and his control made it tougher on the slow and low wicket.

"The slower you bowled on this pitch, you were getting a bit more... Once Varun is back in form, it's good for us as a bowling unit. He's a wicket-taker," said Sunil Narine.

Sometimes, a break can work wonders for a player. It allows him to reflect on his skills and gives him time to come out of the mental block, which is so important in the cut-throat competitive world of cricket.

An injured finger forced Varun to miss two matches earlier this month and gave him more than a 10-day break to go back to the drawing board.

There were signs that he was regaining his rhythm in their previous match against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad when he claimed two wickets for 34 runs.

The conditions at Eden Gardens were tailor-made for Varun. It suited his style and it worked when he was asked to bowl the ninth over of the innings. Ajinkya Rahane had held Varun back despite trying out Sunil Narine against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi inside the Powerplay overs.

Varun dismissed the wonder kid with his fourth delivery as the slog sweep failed to clear mid-wicket. Next over, Dhruv Jurel was stumped as he attempted the reverse sweep.

Perhaps for the first time in IPL 2026, Varun had rediscovered his lost mojo and didn't look back after his initial spell of 2-0-4-0. He claimed Shimron Hetmyer in his next over.

Head coach Abhishek Nayar always felt the high standards he set with his bowling meant Varun was being scrutinised more. Expectations can pull a bowler down, but Varun has shown that he can live up to the challenge.

Emotions ran high in the Knights' dressing room on Sunday evening. With his new-found self-belief, Varun can inspire the side to come out of the trough.