Kolkata Knight Riders mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was delighted after his team’s thrilling five-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad on Thursday. KKR were successfully able to defend the target of 172 runs as their bowlers did the job.

Chakravarthy had to defend nine runs in the final over and Nitish Rana backed him to do the job. The spinner accounted for a well-settled Abdul Samad and bowled a terrific over to concede only three runs.

Chakravarthy returned with impressive figures of 1-20 in his quota of four overs as he was right on the money. In fact, the 31-year-old from Tamil Nadu has been in good form in the ongoing IPL 2023 as he has scalped 14 wickets in the 10 matches he has played at an average of 21.50.

The mystery spinner was awarded Player of the Match for his fine bowling performance. Varun admitted he was a bit nervous to bowl the final over but he was able to hold his nerves. The spinner also revealed he has worked on his revolutions to borne rewards in the ongoing IPL 2023.

He said in the post-match presentation, “My heartbeat was touching 200 in the last over, but I wanted them to make hit to the longer part of the ground. The ball was slipping a lot and my best bet was longer side and that was my only hope.”

He added, “My first over I went for 12 runs, Markram hit me for 2 fours and that’s how the game goes. Last year I was bowling around 85kmph, I was trying out many things and I realized that I needed to work on my revolutions and I did work on it.”

On the other hand, Nitish Rana also revealed how he decides to back a spinner on a given day.

The KKR skipper said, “I had a doubt if I had to go with spinner/pacer and backed my spinner to do the job. I awlays see who is the best spinner on the game and that’s how I decide whom to back on the given day.”

Kolkata Knight Riders will next face take on Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Monday.