Junior artist on ₹600 daily wages to ₹12 crore IPL salary: Varun Chakravarthy’s dream run

India's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy discussed the various roles he dabbled in before finding his true calling in cricket around the age of 26. Now 33, Chakravarthy is one of the best white-ball cricketers in the world, having won the Champions Trophy with India and the IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders.

In a free-wheeling chat with retired Test player Ravi Ashwin on the latter's YouTube channel, Chakravarthy said he explored various career paths, including those of a guitarist, filmmaker, and architectural designer before turning to cricket.

"After college, I worked in an architectural company. I started with around ₹14,000 (per month), and when I left, it was around ₹18,000," said the 33-year-old Tamil Nadu native.

At 24, when he was still on the path of self-exploration, Chakravarthy tried his hand at filmmaking as an assistant director on the sets of the cricket-themed Tamil movie Jeeva. Chakravarthy made a cameo appearance in the movie due to his background as a Tennis-ball cricketer.

"I was signed as a junior artist for Rs 600 per day," Chakravarthy said. Ashwin intervened to probe about about a part of his pay package now. "What is your daily allowance as an Indian cricketer?" Chakravarthy said with a smile: "Right now it is 300 USD (₹25,000)." Chakravarthy is a die-hard fan of Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijay, and wants to direct a film once he finishes playing. 

He said the rewards given out at local Tennis-ball tournaments got him closer to the game. "They used to announce that if you hit a six, you get ₹300. If you bowl a yorker, you'll get ₹200. That was the only space I saw I could earn something," Chakravarthy said.

He began playing with a cricket ball in the fifth division in the Tamil Nadu domestic set-up. At first, he was a fast bowler, but after an injury, he decided to try out his mystery spin.

Chakravarthy said he was scared to see a whopping ₹8.4 crore bid on him during the 2019 IPL auction. "I was in Thanjavur back then, I got literally scared. My mother was shocked, she said 'what is this, it is going on and on'. I just thought I would go for the base price." Chakravarthy did not have a memorable IPL debut with Kings XI Punjab but turned into a huge success since moving to KKR, where he earns ₹12 crore.

Chakravarthy said he used some trigger words to maintain focus while bowling. "I used to tell some words to stop my mind and stay in the moment. I tell 'Aham Brahmasmi' (sanskrit for 'I'm God). That removes me away from everything and gives me focus." Chakravarthy has 43 international wickets, including two five-wicket hauls in T20Is.