"He has batted well against me" - Varun Chakaravarthy on bowling to Virat Kohli in KKR vs RCB IPL 2025 clash

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy shared his excitement at coming up against Royal Challengers Bengaluru's star batter Virat Kohli in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). The two star-studded sides will square off in the opening match of the tournament at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, March 22.

Chakaravarthy pointed out that Kohli has countered him well in the past. Hoping to win the battle against the former RCB skipper this time, here's what the 33-year-old said in a pre-match press conference:

"Definitely excited to be coming up against Virat bhai. He has batted well against me and I would like to do well against him."

KKR are the defending champions of the season. Varun Chakaravarthy was the second-highest wicket-taker of the last edition, picking up 21 scalps across 14 innings. Kolkata parted ways with former captain Shreyas Iyer ahead of the IPL 2025 auction and veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed as the new skipper.

Chakaravarthy opined that while there has been a transition within the squad due to the auction, the KKR think tank has done a great job in retaining its core. He added:

"It's about to happen every year. How the IPL structure, even if you win the championship, you are bound to go into the auction and obviously the core players end up changing, but still, the management has managed to retain almost nine members of the previous squad. So, it's a good thing."

It is worth mentioning that Varun Chakaravarthy has been in stellar form lately. He was India's joint-highest wicket-taker in their 2025 Champions Trophy triumph, finishing with nine wickets in just three innings.

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"IPL is a different ball-game" - Varun Chakaravarthy on his success in international cricket

Varun Chakaravarthy emphasized that despite achieving success in the 2025 Champions Trophy, he will have to start everything from scratch in the IPL. He suggested that the tournament is a different beat altogether and his past performances don't matter much.

The crafty bowler remarked:

"Confidence is very subjective, as in, every new tournament, even if you win the last tournament, you have to start from scratch and you have to start from zero. As they say, 'If you score a hundred in the previous match, you have to start from zero.' Similarly, yes I did well in the last tournament, but IPL is a different ballgame and it's a different beast."

Varun Chakaravarthy was retained by KKR at ₹12 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. Apart from the captaincy change, the team management will also have a new face, with former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo replacing Gautam Gambhir as the mentor.