Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy Vinod (born 29 August 1991) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the India national team as a right-arm leg spin bowler. He represents Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket, and plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League. He was a member of the Indian team that won the 2025 Champions Trophy and the 2025 Asia Cup. In December 2025, he became the highest rated Indian bowler ever in the ICC rankings for Twenty20 Internationals with 818 points.

Early life

Varun Chakravarthy Vinod was born on 29 August 1991 in Bidar, Karnataka, to Vinod Chakravarthy, an ITS officer working for BSNL, and Malini. His father is of half-Tamil and half-Malayali descent, while his mother is a Kannadiga. He was brought up in Adyar, Chennai.

Varun did his schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya CLRI and St. Patrick's School in Chennai. He initially played cricket as a wicket-keeper but quit the sport to focus on academics. He obtained a bachelor's degree in architecture from SRM University. At the age of 25, he gave up his architect career to pursue cricket professionally. While starting out as a pace bowler, he turned to spin bowling after a knee injury in early 2017 that kept him out of action for six months.

Domestic career

Varun came into the limelight during the 2018 season of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), where his nine wickets at an economy rate of 4.70 helped Madurai Panthers win their maiden TNPL title. He made his List A debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018-19 season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on 20 September 2018. He was the leading wicket-taker for Tamil Nadu in the tournament, with 22 dismissals in nine matches. He made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018-19 edition of the Ranji Trophy on 12 November 2018.