Varun Chakravarthy, at the Eden on Thursday, came on to bowl early, in the fifth over, as the Knight Riders hoped he would keep Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma on a leash.

Far from it, Varun was hit by Abhishek for a couple of maximums and three boundaries in his first over, costing the Knights as many as 25 runs.

His first ball was right in the batter’s arc, as Abhishek cleared his front leg to tonk it over the on-side. The next was a dot, but the one after that was a rank short delivery, which Abhishek pummeled over long-on.

Three more boundaries followed — one off a wide, fuller delivery and the other
two short again, giving Abhishek ample room for a cut. And,in between, Varun bowled a wide.

Thereafter, he got only one more over to bowl.

Varun finished with 0/31 from the two overs he bowled. For someone who’s regarded as the main weapon of his team’s bowling attack, this doesn’t bode well for Varun. Till recently, he enjoyed the ‘mystery’ tag as batters couldn’t read him. But that he couldn’t complete his quota of four overs on Thursday hints that the team didn’t have confidence in him.

“It’s not compulsory to bowl all four overs. On a particular day, based on what’s happening in the game, you’ve got to live that situation and decide accordingly.

“I’m sure Varun is a team-man and he is going through that phase at this moment where he needs support from everyone. Sometimes, just bowling two overs can help a player, sometimes one, or sometimes no over at all. It depends on the situation
and the conditions, while it’s also important to understand the player’s mentality,” captain Ajinkya Rahane explained later.

Given Varun’s misery, should the Knight Riders consider resting him for a game or two so that he can return fresh?

Should they try out 23-year-old leg-break bowler Daksh Kamra instead? It’s a tricky call.