New Delhi [India], October 16 (ANI): The Indian spin sensation Varun Chakravarthy opened up on what sparked his love for cricket and how, at one point, he hilariously carried a cricket ball to his own wedding reception, out of his habit of carrying one everywhere he went.

The 34-year-old spinner, who has been on a roll as the number one T20I bowler following his return to international cricket last year, was speaking on the 'Breakfast with Champions' show with reputed presenter Gaurav Kapur.

Speaking during the show, Varun said, 'If you meet me anywhere else, at any time of the day, you will find a ball with me. I always carry it. I do not even realise that I have carried it to a place. I did that in my reception as well as at my own wedding reception. I ended up taking the ball to the stage and then gave it to my brother to take it away. If that skin of the ball does not touch my hand, I start getting withdrawal symptoms like something is missing.'

But for Varun, a late bloomer in cricket who started taking the sport seriously only at the age of 26, life was not always like this, and this addiction to cricket was not born during his childhood, as is the case with almost every cricketing superstar. The spinner found himself engrossed in non-sporting things like movies and architecture in his early 20s.

'If I go before 26, 24-26, it was all about movies. Before 24, it was about becoming the best architect in the world. So, after that, cricket became all of a sudden, it just happened. All my life, till I made it in cricket, the only thing I can remember is sleeping on my couch and thinking about what I am going to do with my life. I had pursued many other endeavours, and by the time I finished college, I had six to seven career options. I wanted to be an editor, so I learnt After Effects, Final Cut Pro and all those things. Then I went and learnt guitar. So I just wanted to do everything that was in trend at that time. At certain times, movie-making and short films were in trend, so I went with that flow. So many crazy stories with architecture as well,' he added.

The spinner admitted to having tried his hand at fast bowling and wicketkeeping as well before he turned to being a spinner.

'In cricket as well, I have tried everything. When I started out at 26, no academies would take me as the cut-off age was 20. So, my only guru, the sakshat guru, was YouTube. I kept seeing videos with at least 200-300 hours of bowling footage of Sunil Narine, Shahid Afridi, and Rashid Khan. Anil Kumble, I have watched easily thousands of hours of his bowling. This ignited a spark within me,' he concluded.

In 24 T20Is for India, Varun has taken 40 wickets at an average of 15.60, with best figures of 5/17 and an economy rate of 6.89. He has two five-wicket hauls in T20Is. In four ODIs, he has taken 10 wickets at an average of 19.00, with a fifer to his name. He has captured the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the Asia Cup T20I edition 2025 with the Indian team.

The spinner is also a prolific Indian Premier League (IPL) bowler, having taken 100 wickets in 84 IPL matches at an average of 23.85, with a five-wicket haul to his name. He has also won the IPL 2024 title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), taking 21 wickets in the campaign at an average of 19.14. (ANI)