Varun Chakaravarthy has a habit of saving his best for the biggest stage. He was the top wicket-taker for India at the Champions Trophy 2025, with nine scalps, and then at the Asia Cup 2025, he took seven wickets. The mystery spinner revealed an interesting facet of his personal buildup before any tournament. "I am a very bad starter. When a new tournament is going to start, I start very badly. I cry the whole night. I am like, 'What's going to happen tomorrow? I don't know what it's going to be.' That happens in every tournament. This happened to me during this Asia Cup also," he said on 'Breakfast with Champions'.
Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy recently became the third Indian player to top the ICC Men's T20I Bowling Rankings after economical spells in his team's first two matches of the Asia Cup. Chakaravarthy, however, had a different take.
"I follow chess now. When Gukesh won the championship, he said, 'I might be the world champion right now, but everyone knows Magnus Carlsen is the number one player.' So I might be ranked number one, but the number one is always Jasprit Bumrah. There are Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan. I am doing well but I still have some time to go before I can reach that stage," Chakaravarthy said.
Chakaravarthy's performance in the Asia Cup final, combined with his cheeky social media gesture, has amplified his standing as a key spin weapon for India—one he hopes extends across formats in the coming years.
In the Asia Cup final against Pakistan in Dubai, Chakaravarthy played a vital role, picking crucial wickets (2-30) and helping trigger Pakistan's collapse from 113/1 to 146 all out. His dismissals of openers Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman tilted the match in India's favour.
But the on-field victory was complicated by the post-match drama. India refused to accept the trophy from ACC chairman and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi. Dignitaries walked off, and Indian players celebrated with an imaginary trophy in their midst.
Chakaravarthy responded with equal doses of wit and defiance. On social media, he posted a photo of himself holding a simple teacup in place of a trophy, captioned: “Akkha duniya ek taraf, aur mera INDIA ek taraf. Jai Hind !!!”
The post quickly went viral, as fans turned his cup into a symbol of the moment and shared their own edited images of the team lifting imaginary silverware.