Abdullah Shafique in action© AFP

Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy says he is reaping the rewards of putting over-spin on the ball instead of side-spin following his successful India comeback. The 33-year-old, whose India career came to an abrupt halt after an underwhelming debut in the 2021 T20 World Cup, took three wickets against Bangladesh in the series opener. As the great Nathan Lyon has shown over the years, putting over-spin on the ball generates sharp bounce and turn, which aided Varun on Sunday night. His googly to get rid of Jaker Ali showed the former architect’s total control over his craft.

“I used to be a side-spin bowler, but right now, I have completely shifted to being an over-spin bowler,” said Varun after playing a part in India’s seven-wicket win.

“It’s a minute technical aspect of spin bowling, but it took me more than two years. I gradually tested it in TNPL and IPL. While the mental aspect also had to be worked on, the major chunk of effort I put in was on my technical side.” Despite doing well in the IPL and domestic cricket over the past two seasons, Varun did not get a recall to the Indian team and that only made him hungrier. Now that he is back in blues, it feels like a rebirth.

“Whenever there was a squad that was announced, I used to feel like, ‘Why is my name not there?’ and I used to keep thinking about that. So that kind of brought the motivation within me that I should not leave this.

“I should go all out and make a comeback, so I started playing a lot of domestic games and giving importance to it. That kind of helped me,” said the soft-spoken cricketer.

A catch was dropped in Varun’s first over that eventually went for 15 runs with Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hasan Shanto and Towhid Hridoy going on the offensive against spinner in the powerplay.

However, skipper Suryakumar Yadav trusted Varun to bounce back in the following over and he did that by having Hridoy caught at long-on.

“Yes, in the first over the catch could have gone my way but that’s how T20s are played. I felt the reverse-sweep six was a good ball but it still went for a six, so it’s all mixed emotions.” He played the series opener of leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi who too has had done well fairly well in the limited opportunities that he has got after the T20 Word Cup, reflecting India’s robust bench strength. Varun acknowledged the fierce competition.

“There is good competition and there is good camaraderie also. And the person who was cheering me was Ravi Bishnoi; he was coming and telling me messages, so I can’t ask for more.

“It’s actually good to have such competition so that people will keep pushing each other. Someone will be better than others at one point of time and he will definitely get the Cup for India, so that competition is very required,” Varun added.

The father of Paris Olympics shooting bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale on Monday expressed disappointment over the Maharashtra government paying a prize money of Rs 2 crore to his son, saying Haryana doles out much higher amount for its athletes. Swapnil Kusale, who hails from Kolhapur, won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in 50m rifle 3 positions event in August. The 29-year-old’s father, Suresh Kusale, said his son should get Rs 5 crore prize money and a flat near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, and maintained the Haryana government gives much higher amounts for its Olympics medal winning athletes.

Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, Suresh Kusale claimed “The Haryana government gives Rs 5 crore to its each (Olympics medal winning) player (Haryana gives Rs 6 crore to a gold medallist, Rs 4 crore to silver medallist, Rs 2.5 crore to bronze winner).

“As per a new policy announced by the Maharashtra government, an Olympic bronze medal winner will get Rs 2 crore. Why does the state form such criteria when Swapnil was only the second individual Olympic medal winner from Maharashtra (after wrestler K D Jadhav in 1952) in 72 years?” Five individuals won medals in the Paris Olympics for India of which four were from Haryana and one, Swapnil Kusale, from Maharashtra. Haryana is a much smaller state compared to Maharashtra, but it gives higher prize money to its medal winning athletes, he said.

“However, our government has announced Rs 5 crore for a gold medal winner, Rs 3 crore for a silver medallist and Rs 2 crore for a bronze medallist. Why have such a criteria when only two players from Maharashtra have won individual Olympic medals in so many years,” Suresh Kusale asked.

“Had I known such an outcome, I would have persuaded him to explore a career in some other sports. Is the amount kept low because Swapnil is from a humble background? Would the reward amount have remained the same if he had been the son of an MLA or a minister?” he wondered.

Suresh Kusale said the 50-meter-three-position rifle shooting arena in the sports complex should be named after his son.

“Swapnil should get Rs 5 crore as an award, a flat near Balewadi Sports Stadium so that he could easily commute for practice. Swapnil’s name should be given to the 50-meter-three-position rifle shooting arena,” he said when asked about his demands.

After his Paris feat, the ace marksman was promoted by his employer Central Railway and appointed an officer on special duty.

The Maharashtra government recently announced doubling the prize money to players winning medals at major sports events, including Olympics, World Championships and Asian Games, among others.