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The star spinner for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Varun Chakravarthy, has three Indian cricket players in his sights that he hopes to dismiss in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The 29-year-old shared his ambitious objective with JioStar, saying he wants to get the wicket of every batter who is in great form and is playing well.
He then specifically named the players he hoped to dismiss. "Players like Heinrich Klaasen, Nicholas Pooran, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav—these guys are all the star players. I would be very happy if I could pick their wickets," Chakravarthy revealed.
Chakravarthy also discussed the lessons he learned from playing under pressure and how he handles crucial in-game moments.
"What I have learned till now is to just keep things very simple—don't try to do something very different, don't try to bowl a magic ball or create a magic moment. The most impactful thing you can do is stick to your basics, do them well, and execute them properly," he said.
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Chakravarthy also discussed a crucial takeaway from KKR's IPL 2024 championship run and said "The lesson is that you can have a great previous tournament, but again you have to start from scratch. That's what cricket teaches you. You can have fantastic two or three tournaments, but in the next one, you have to start from zero. So, that's what I'm preparing for—starting from scratch."
Chakravarthy will play on Monday when the Mumbai Indians play the Kolkata Knight Riders, the reigning champions. As a reminder that Wankhede Stadium has not been a stronghold for the five-time champions lately, KKR will also draw great strength from their 24-run victory over the Mumbai Indians last year, which was their first at the stadium in twelve years.
MI vs KKR Squads
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz (wk), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Shrijith Krishnan (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, VS Penmetsa, Arjun Tendulkar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Luvnith Sisodia, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Chetan Sakariya
