“He smashed the life out of me” - Varun Chakaravarthy’s massive praise for Indian legend after Asia Cup 2025

Varun Chakaravarthy heaped massive praise on Indian legend MS Dhoni after the Asia Cup 2025. The mystery spinner was a part of the Indian team that won the tournament by beating Pakistan in the final.

In a recent appearance on 'Breakfast with Champions', Varun Chakaravarthy recalled bowling to MS Dhoni while he was a net bowler at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

He revealed that while he got Dhoni out a few times, the Indian legend smashed him several times. Varun described it as a great experience to bowl to Dhoni at the Chepauk Stadium during practice in front of large crowds.

"The hotel where CSK stay and the Chepauk Stadium, in between is my house. It used to be jam packed. There have been times where I would follow the bus but to cut to that I was bowling to MSD. It was a great experience. There were few times where I got the better of him but many times he smashed the life out of me," he said on 'Breakfast with Champions' (22:28)

Talking about the toughest batters he had bowled to so far in T20 cricket, Varun named Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, and Abhishek Sharma.

"Chris Gayle, Virat, and, of late, Abhishek Sharma. You should tell Abhishek next time to try to be soft on the bowlers. Let him bat like this for India, not for SRH," he stated. (22:20)

Abhishek has been in tremendous form in the recent past. In the Asia Cup 2025, he smashed 314 runs at an average of 44.85 with three fifties at a strike-rate of 200.

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Varun Chakaravarthy reveals Shah Rukh Khan's advice after an IPL 2024 match

In the same conversation, Varun Chakaravarthy also revealed an advice that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan gave him after a match against Punjab during the 2024 season.

KKR conceded 261 runs. Varun gave away 46 runs from three overs without a wicket. He stated how Shah Rukh Khan came to him and advised him to stick to the basics.

"The year that we won, 2024, we conceded 261 against Punjab. We were like how did we end up conceding 261 as we had a great bowling line-up. That night, I got a message from Shah Rukh's manager. He wanted to come to my room. We spoke for 40 minutes. I told him that I made a mistake. He told me that than trying to do something magical, just do the basics. Maybe the team was just expecting to me bowl a normal ball but I was going behind the magic ball," he said. (25:03)

KKR won their third IPL title in the 2024 season. Varun Chakaravarthy played a massive role in their triumph. He bagged 21 wickets from 15 matches at an average of 19.14.