Varun Chakravarthy is an Indian cricketer who is famous for his leg-spin bowling. He plays for Tamil Nadu in Indian domestic cricket and for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He played his first T20 match for India in July 2021 and later played his first One Day International (ODI) in February 2025.
Early Life of Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy was born on 29 August 1991 in Bidar, Karnataka. His father, Vinod Chakravarthy, is an officer in BSNL and his mother, Malini, is from Karnataka. He grew up in Adyar, Chennai.
Varun Chakravarthy Education
He studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya CLRI and St. Patrick’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Chennai. He played cricket as a wicket-keeper in school but stopped to focus on his studies. Later, he completed a bachelor’s degree in architecture from SRM University. At the age of 25, he left his job as an architect to pursue cricket. Initially a pace bowler, he switched to spin bowling after a knee injury in 2017.
Age of Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy was born on 29 August 1991. As of 2025, he is 33 years old. He started his cricket career later than most players but worked hard to become a successful spinner in domestic and international career.
Varun Chakravarthy Current Teams
Varun made his List A debut for Tamil Nadu in the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He performed well in the tournament, taking 22 wickets in 9 matches. He made his first-class debut in 2018-19 Ranji Trophy.
In the 2019 IPL auction, Kings XI Punjab bought him for Rs.8.4 crore. However, his debut match was expensive as he gave away 25 runs in his first over. He was released by Punjab ahead of the 2020 IPL auction and was then bought by Kolkata Knight Riders. In the 2020 IPL, he took his first five-wicket haul against Delhi capitals.
International Career of Varun Chakravarthy
Varun was first selected for India’s T20I squad in 2020 for the series against Australia, but he missed it due to injury. He was again selected in February 2021 for the series against England.
In June 2021, he was named in India’s squad for ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. He made his T20I debut on 25 July 2021 and took his first wicket by dismissing Dasun Shanaka. Later, he was included in India’s squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup.
In February 2025, he made his ODI debut against England and became the second oldest Indian player after Farookh Engineer to debut in ODIs.
Personal Life of Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy appeared in the Tamil sports film Jeeva (2014) as a club cricketer. On 11 December 2020, he married to Neha Khedekar, in Channai.
During the 2021 IPL, Varun tested positive for COVID-19 along with teammate Sandeep Warrier, leading to the suspension of the tournament.