IPL 2026 | 'I could see many with tears...': KKR's Varun Chakaravarthy after securing season's first win

KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy celebrates the wicket of RR captain Riyan Parag in Kolkata on Sunday. Pic/PTI

Varun Chakravarthy looked physically and emotionally drained as he described the Kolkata Knight Riders dressing room after their first win this season at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday. "I could see many with tears, which we didn't see (even) after winning the IPL in 2024," Chakaravarthy said after KKR's four-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals. Calling it "very very significant", the Player of the Match credited the support staff for ensuring the Knights kept believing in themselves despite "all the outside noise".

Restricting the Royals to 155 for 9 in their 20 overs despite a 52-ball partnership of 81 between openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, KKR made heavy weather of the chase, almost messing things up before a 76-run association off 37 balls for the unbroken seventh wicket between Rinku Singh (34-ball 53 not out) and Anukul Roy (29 not out) took them over the line.

KKR's Rinku Singh during his 53 not out against RR in Kolkata on Sunday. Pic/IPL

Vikram Rathour, RR's batting coach, pointed to "that dropped catch" as being the most telling turning point in a match that had its twists and turns. Rinku, then on eight, was allowed to slip away when Nandre Burger failed to latch on to a dolly at mid-on.

Over 51,000 filled the terraces, and one of the main crowd-pullers this day, 15-year-old Sooryavanshi was in action straightaway. The teen would end up scoring 46 off 28 before becoming Varun's first victim. Jaiswal came back with a 29-ball 39 before he became Narine's first victim.

Sunil Narine and Varun, often bowling in tandem, put the brakes on the RR innings in the middle overs. Varun, sending down his four on the trot, finished with three for 14 while Narine ended up with 2 for 26. "Look, just because I have taken three wickets today, I don't want to make a sweeping statement and all. That's the nature of the game," Varun said, almost like a message to his detracters. "Next match, if the wicket has nothing in it, that's going to happen to every spinner. Once the pitches start slowing down, that's how we start coming into the game," he added.

202
No. of T20 scalps for Varun Chakravarthy. He crossed the 200-mark against RR on Sunday

One
No. of half-centuries for Rinku Singh in IPL since 2023

76
No. of runs scored between KKR's Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy against RR on Sunday - the second-highest partnership for the seventh wicket or lower in a successful IPL run chase

12
No. of ducks for Rahane as opener in IPL - the most for any batter