Varun Chakravarthy explains Gambhir’s “Spartan mentality”, opens up about snub from Australia ODIs

Mumbai,oct 7
India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy believes head coach Gautam Gambhir has fostered a “Spartan mentality” within the team, which leaves “no option of losing”.Once a forgotten star who lost his stardom, Varun discovered himself at the bottom of the pecking order for three years from 2021. Varun has grabbed the opportunity with both hands the previous year.Over the last three years, he has put in the hard work to completely flip the narrative. After Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian team, Varun found his way back to the Indian team. The 34-year-old credited Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav for his resurgance in international cricket.”Definitely one thing which I can say about [Gambhir] is he brings a Spartan mentality to the team where there is no option of losing. You just have to bring your best and give everything on the ground, and later on, whatever happens, happens. When he is around, there is no mediocrity – you can’t be mediocre in the field, that’s what I feel,” Varun said on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday.Varun has formed a formidable duo with left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the T20Is. The duo has bowled in tandem to wreak havoc with their mastery in spin, while ensuring they complement each other. While praising his partner in crime, Varun hopes to continue his partnership with Kuldeep during India’s title defence in next year’s T20 World Cup on home turf. “Kuldeep is definitely one of the most experienced bowlers right now in the pool of players that we have, and he has done amazingly well,” Varun said. “I bowl at the speeds of 95kph, and he bowls around 85kph, so we kind of complement each other. He has more revs and more turn, I have more speed and bounce, so till now it’s been working well for us. Hopefully, we can do the same thing in the World Cup also.”Varun’s debut in July 2021 didn’t get off to an ideal start, with just two wickets in six matches; it seemed as if he had played his last game in the international circuit.