IPL 2021: Selection for India gives me sense of acceptance, says Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy said getting picked for the Indian team gave him a "sense of acceptance" after his heroics in Kolkata Knight Riders' nine-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Monday.

Chakravarthy was named the Player of the Match after his figures of 3 for 13 helped KKR to restrict RCB at 92 in 20 overs. The 30-year-old Tamil Nadu spinner made his international debut very late in his career. His maiden game for India came earlier this year in Sri Lanka and he has also been included in India's squad for the T20 World Cup.

After KKR's comfortable win in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Chakravarthy also praised his co-bowlers for showing discipline in the powerplay overs.

"I try to assess the pitch first. It was flat only. I would like to give credit to the bowlers who bowled in the powerplay for the discipline. There wasn't much in the pitch. Wasn't much spin on offer so I had to keep it on the stumps. I thought it was out (the hattrick ball) but just saw the replay that there was an inside edge.

It definitely made me feel better, and got a sense of acceptance from the people around me. Started very late in my career. Now me getting picked for India gives me a sense of acceptance," added Chakravarthy in the post-match presentation.

Meanwhile, KKR captain Eoin Morgan hailed his entire side for producing a fantastic effort to clinch two crucial points.

"The timing of it is excellent. The talent we have within our squad, sometimes that counts for nothing. You have to go out there and show how good you are. Was 50-50 about the toss. Bowlers have had an outstanding day today. Maxwell, AB, Virat - we got on top of them which is fantastic and really rare. Have a long way to go. Need a lot of things to go right for us. Today was the perfect start. Maybe makes us a dangerous side - we haven't turned up to the tournament so far," said Morgan at the presentation.

Chasing RCB's target of 93, KKR lost Shubman Gill in the 10th over, when they were 11 runs away from victory. The opening batsman scored 48 off 34 balls before becoming RCB's only victim of the day. Debutant Venkatesh Iyer finished the game for KKR as he remained unbeaten on 41 off 27 balls.

While Kohli became the first cricketer to play 200 matches for a single IPL franchise, the end result did not turn out to be a memorable one. It was also RCB's sixth consecutive loss in the UAE. Incidentally, RCB's last win came against KKR at the same venue when they restricted KKR to 84/8 in 20 overs and chased it down in 13.3 overs.