Varun Chakravarthy in a cha with Gautam Gambhir© X (Twitter)
When have we seen a coach being involved in an intense chat with his player after the game has concluded, especially when the player under focus has done well? In Indian cricket, there haven't been many such instances but renowned football coach Pep Guardiola has done that on multiple occasions. While being the coach of German football club Bayern Munich, Guardiola famously had an on-field chat with Joshua Kimmich, even though the club had won the game, with the midfielder playing a pivotal role. A similar scene was witnessed between Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir and spinner Varun Chakravarthy on Sunday.
With India up against Bangladesh in the series opener on, the match marked the return of spinner Varun Chakravarthy for the first time since T20 World Cup 2021, while express pacer Mayank Yadav was handed a debut. Chakravarthy particularly impressed in the match, bagging three wickets.
While his performance was nearly flawless, fans were confused on seeing Gambhir engaging with the spinner in an intense chat after the conclusion of the game. India's bowling coach Morne Morkel could also be seen in the visual.
— Brendon Mishra (@KKRKaFan) October 6, 2024
Head coach Gautam Gambhir having a chat with Varun Chakravarthy after the win against Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/6A0JmFRm0a
— Gauti Harshit Dhiman (GG Ka Parivar) (@GautiDhiman) October 6, 2024
The visuals reminded some of the Guardiola-Kimmich instance.
— (@PJordan__) May 27, 2020En 2016, Guardiola avait declare en conference de presse que Kimmich ferait partie des meilleurs joueurs allemands dans les 10 prochaines annees.
Le flair de Peppic.twitter.com/XhldP2zC0i
Team India's former head coach Ravi Shastri also opined on the topic. He said: "You can see Varun Chakaravarthy having a chat with Gautam Gambhir. He took three wickets. Gautam could have seen a lot of him at KKR as well. He's probably just telling him about either the pace at which he was bowling, or the fields which he should bowl. Morne Morkel, the bowling coach, is also there and he will tactically add a lot to Varun's game."
In what seems to be the redemption of Chakravarthy's career, the veteran spinner would be keen to hold on to his position in India's T20I team.