IPL 2019 Auction: Kings XI Punjab Ropes in Mystery Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy for Rs 8.40 Crores

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have bagged the service of mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy for the upcoming edition of the T20 league. Meanwhile, starting at Rs 20 Lakh, the auction room witnessed some interesting bid for the mystery spinner. However, after some intense bidding, Punjab roped in the all-rounder for a hefty sum of Rs 8.4 crores.

Chakravarthy’s rise in the Indian domestic cricket has been meteoric. Playing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2018, he captured the attention of the state selectors with his phenomenal discipline and control in bowling. In the victorious campaign, he recorded an unbelievable economy rate of 4.7 from 10 T20 matches.

He soon made into Tamil Nadu’s Limited-overs team, and Varun Chakaravarthy snapped 22 wickets from just nine matches, picking at least one wicket in each game. Previous this year, Dinesh Karthik invited Varun to attend Kolkata Knight Riders practice sessions where the bowler got to learn many tricks from experienced campaigners.

Kings XI Punjab, meanwhile, look to build a strong squad following their poor show in the last season. And with Ravichandran Ashwin and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman already in their ranks, the inclusion of Varun Chakaravarthy will bolster their squad. After settling their spin department, Punjab will have to solve their pace bowling worries, the reason due to which they suffered last season.

The franchise co-owned by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta have come to the auctions with the most budget and had 19 spots to fill. They will be keen to do the permutation combination well before roping in players for IPL 2019.