‘Underprepared pitches might aid spin’: Varun Chakaravarthy ahead of Asian Games

Expecting lsquounderpreparedrsquo tracks in Japan India wristspinner Varun Chakaravarthy believes spinners could play a pivotal role in the teams upcoming Asian Games campaign even as he cautioned that unpredictable weather conditions will ultimately dictate how the pitches behave during the tournamentChakaravarthy has fully recovered from a Grade 2 left hamstring injury sustained during the T20I series against England including doing rehab at the BCCI Centre of Excellence CoE in Bengaluru In the Asian Games menrsquos T20 event India the gold medal winners in the last edition in Hangzhou will begin their campaign from the quarterfinal stage in AichiNagoyaThats how it has been scheduled so I dont have any say in that But definitely every match and every tournament needs preparation and that we have to do So its just like every other tournament ndash we will prepare well and whatever comes our way we will take it Chakaravarthy said in an exclusive interaction with IANS facilitated by ASICS IndiaAssessing the playing conditions at the Korogi Sports Park ahead of the marquee event Chakaravarthy who will also be in action for Indiarsquos T20Is against Afghanistan and the historic oneoff clash against Japan noted that adaptability will be key for the bowling unitWhat Ive seen is that the pitches might be a little bit underprepared So it might help spin but I dont know how the weather in Japan will play a role in the way pitches behave It can have a big impact as well We are just preparing for facing all kinds of conditions and lets see how it goes he addedReflecting on the year so far which saw him finish as the jointhighest wickettaker with 14 scalps in Indias T20 World Cup triumph on home soil Chakaravarthy termed it as a lsquorollercoasterrsquoItrsquos been lovely I have no complaints at all Its been a great journey till now and we won the World Cup this time so everything is going well I did have one hiccup with my injury but Im back I feel fitter Ive done a lot of strength training and running Credit goes to the CoE where I trained a lot he saidChakaravarthy who also picked up 11 wickets in IPL 2026 while battling through hairline fractures in his left hand and toe takes pride in his unconventional rise through the ranksI started cricket very late I started bowling when I was 26 and I played for India when I was 28 and a half Im a very late bloomer Its been seven to eight years in cricket right now and I would say Im in the first half of my career There is a long way to go ahead and its been an unconventional journey till now and I think its going to be more like that he reflectedSpeaking on evolving his craft Chakaravarthy revealed that while he continuously works on adding fresh variations behind the scenes polishing his existing skill set remains his primary objectiveldquoWell its a combination of both Obviously polishing and mastering the skill is always the primary thing and bringing in other variations is always on the back of my mind Im also working on certain new variations When I will be able to master it is a different question but its a mix of bothrdquoAsked how he guards his mystery balls from hightech cameras and tactical analytics Chakaravarthy stressed that execution under pressure overrides technology ldquoAs you mentioned there are no secrets anymore because there are so many video analysts everywhere and everything that you do is being recordedldquoThe only thing is the human touch in cricket where the batter wont know what Im going to bowl to them That has to be decided by me and I dont think any AI or video analyst can predict that So thats what we have to play withrdquoRather than plotting longterm milestones in a highly volatile sport the Chennaibased Chakaravarthy prefers setting incremental targets ldquoI set more shortterm goals rather than longterm goals because I dont think Ill be able to plan for five years down the line but Ill be able to plan what I want to do in the next six months Im that sort of a guy so I focus more on shortterm goalsrdquoChakaravarthy signed off by revealing that his association with ASICS began organically years ago even before formally signing up with them ldquoLong before I signed with ASICS in 2026 I zeroed in on these shoes during the 2022 IPLldquoThats when I started wearing them and they were among the best Ive ever worn out of all the brands out there So when ASICS approached me I was ready to cling on to it It is one of the best performance brands out there so no complaintsrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever