Much has changed for both Team India and Varun Chakravarthy since that forgettable night in Dubai on October 24, 2021, when Pakistan had given them a hiding in the T20 World Cup.

Varun has gradually turned himself into his team’s trump card and game changer in the sport’s shortest version over the last four years.

Of late, with his skills and variations, the spinner has come across as a mystery which Pakistani batsmen haven’t been able to solve, especially in last year’s Asia
Cup. This time, he is planning to unleash a few of his newly developed tricks on the Pakistani batters.

“I have worked on my over-spin rather than side-spin and also on more speed and zip off the wicket,” Varun told reporters after his 3/7 off two overs against Namibia in New Delhi on Thursday.

According to those in the know of things, Varun has worked on “a couple of new deliveries which could choke the batters and put them under further pressure”, even if they don’t earn him wickets.

“I’ve been working on a few things, but that has been my process all along. I always have some deliveries coming up, so I’ll always have something coming up.

“But it’s up to me... It’s actually if I’m courageous enough, I will try it in the
next match. But it depends,” Varun said.

Talking about the time he takes to bowl the new kind of delivery he works on, Varun stated: “It takes any amount of time. There are a few balls which just clicked for me in the matches and there have been a few variations which I have been trying for the last six years, and they still haven’t come out.

“So, it just depends on the complexity of the delivery.”

Perfection of the basics is a key area of Varun’s game, while he has also worked on his follow-through. “People do work on variations, but I worked on perfecting
my existing set of deliveries as well, so that helped a lot,” he pointed out.

“As for the follow-through, I’ve worked on it so that I can get more zip off the wicket,” he added.

The aspect of flight has been a tad rare in Varun’s bowling in recent matches. But he may look to try it at the Premadasa in Colombo on Sunday.

“Against Namibia, there was no chance (of giving flight) because the size of the boundaries (at the Arun Jaitley Stadium) were so small. Maybe at the Premadasa, I could try it,” Varun said.