"The main reason was not having clarity..."- Varun Chakaravarthy opens up on mental health challenges after being dropped from Indian side in 2021

Varun Chakaravarthy made a comeback to the Indian team in 2024.

Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has opened up about the mental challenges he faced before his comeback to the national team. The mystery spinner was dropped from the national side after a dismal show in ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

Last year in October, he made a comeback to the Indian Cricket Team during the T20I series against Bangladesh following the impressive performances in Indian Premier League (IPL) and domestic cricket.

Earlier this year, he was also picked for ICC Champions Trophy 2025. With nine wickets in three games, the right-arm spinner finished as the joint highest wicket-taker for India in the tournament.

So far, the 33-year-old has played four ODIs and 18 T20Is for India, clinching 10 and 33 wickets respectively in both formats. Since last year, he has been a phenomenal performer for India in the white-ball formats.

I went through mental health challenges when I was out of the Indian team: Varun Chakaravarthy

During an interview with Revsportz, Chakaravarthy revealed that he faced mental health challenges for three years when he was out of the national team. He also said that he set a goal to make a comeback to the Indian team with his performance in Indian Premier League (IPL).

“It’s a very good question, as not just me, but many cricketers go through mental health challenges as I did too for almost three years after I was out of the team from 2021. The main reason was not having clarity of whether I would ever make a return to the team,“ he said.

“The only thing in front of me was IPL and the domestic leagues, and I am definitely grateful for having IPL, because many other cricketers don’t have that as well. But trying to make a comeback to the Indian side was my goal, so I always used to keep thinking why I’m not there and about ways in which I can improve myself,” he added.

Varun also added that he was disappointed after he was not picked in the national team after impressive performances in IPL.

After having good IPL seasons, I felt that I should have been in the team, but still, I was not there. So everything made sense when I was picked after a long time for the Bangladesh tour last year”, he said.

“Yes, that phase was challenging, but the only thing I had in my control was going to practice at 5:30 in the morning, do some spot bowling and come back home and hit the gym in the evening,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Indian spinner was last seen in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where he finished as the joint highest wicket-taker for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). At an economy of 7.66, he clinched 17 wickets across 13 matches in the tournament.

He is expected to be picked for India squad for Asia Cup 2025, scheduled to be played in UAE next month, starting September 9. India are part of Group A in the tournament alongside Pakistan, UAE, and Oman.

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