Injury, Return, Injury, Repeat: The Curious Case of Varun Chakravarthy

“It’s good bro,” Varun Chakravarthy said when asked about his return to the team after a long injury lay-off and his poor performance against Afghanistan in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.

“Injuries are very common in all athletes. It just shows that we work hard and give our best. Sometimes we push our limits and that’s when the body gives out. That’s when you take a step back and come back stronger,” he said.

Varun Chakravarthy spoke with the confidence of a man no longer worried about fitness. He sounded like a man set for a busy stretch of T20I cricket: a three-match series in Delhi against Afghanistan, followed by the Asian Games before heading to New Zealand for a five-match series, all in the space of three months.

The control and acumen in his bowling was encouraging. He rattled the stumps of Afghanistan’s Darwish Rasooli and conceded only 19 runs in his quota for four. After struggling for consistency during the second half of the T20 World Cup, a poor run of form that extended into the Indian Premier League and the T20I series in England, it was finally good to see Varun find his rhythm again.

INJURED AGAIN!

But the joy was short-lived, with news appearing on Monday that the senior spinner was ruled out with an injury.

At first it was confusing. Varun attended the post-match press conference after the first T20I in New Delhi. How could he get hurt? When was he injured and where? These were the questions on everyone’s mind.

While initial reports claimed that the injury was not serious and that he would be available for India’s Asian Games campaign later this month, the BCCI on Tuesday revealed the nature and timing of the injury.

“Varun Chakaravarthy experienced sudden discomfort in the left side of his abdomen while bowling his third over in the first T20I. Scans revealed a side strain and he was subsequently ruled out of the remaining two T20Is,” the board said in a statement after Tuesday’s draw. (Credit: BCCI X)

Really confusing. Varun felt discomfort during the match, yet he came to the press conference and talked about the injuries and his comeback. The former world number one T20I spinner must have been gutted when he learned the results of the scans the next day.

HARD FEW MONTHS FOR VARUN

It’s been a tough few months for Varun Chakravarthy. After making a strong return to the T20I side and winning the World Cup in March, the Tamil Nadu spinner battled through IPL 2026 despite managing a hairline fracture to his big toe and a finger injury without bowling. Despite injury concerns, he played 11 matches, often bowling with taped fingers and visibly in discomfort.

It was a risky call from both the bowler and the Knight Riders and Varun was ultimately ruled out of India’s tour of Ireland in June.

But he returned to action for the five-match series in England, only to injure his hamstring in the third game. He was subsequently dropped from the tour of Zimbabwe.

Varun has not had a recurrence of the same injury, but his latest setback puts the Center of Excellence and its medical and sports science processes back in the spotlight. The CoE has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months as a number of Indian players have suffered injuries, returned from rehab only to break down again or faced questions about the timetable for their returns.

The timing could hardly be more inconvenient for the BCCI. The council only called for applications last week to the position of Head of Sports Science and Medicine at the CoE, a role left vacant since the departure of Nitin Patel. Meanwhile, Dhananjay Kaushik has overseen sports science operations, but the long-term absence of the permanent head has inevitably become part of the conversation around India’s growing injury list.

The BCCI insists that the vacancy has not affected the functioning of the Council of Europe. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said earlier this month that around 16 people were involved in maintaining fitness and rehabilitation at the facility, while stressing that the board was looking for a suitably qualified person to take over the department.

Still, with Harshit Rana picking up another hamstring injury while undergoing a fitness assessment at the CoE, and now Varun breaking down again shortly after returning from rehab, questions about the system are unlikely to go away.

Was Varun considered fully fit before being cleared to play in the Afghanistan series? Has his workload been sufficiently monitored after a hamstring injury has already ruled him out of the Zimbabwe tour? And was there sufficient communication between the CoE, team management and selectors before he was brought back into India’s T20I plans?

These are the questions the BCCI will have to answer. However, it would be simplistic to place Varun’s latest setback entirely on the players.

At 35, Varun has definitely been pushing his body hard. He suffered a broken toe and a finger injury during the IPL before suffering a hamstring injury on the England tour. It should be noted that a spinner needs to be more conservative in his workload and willing to back down when his body sends a warning.

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Published on:

15 Sep 2026 20:27 IST