Watch: Abhishek Sharma smashes Varun Chakravarthy for 25 runs in an over during KKR vs SRH IPL 2026 clash

Varun Chakravarthy started the T20 World Cup 2026 in a fantastic form, but as the tournament went into its business mode and the attention shifted to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, the leg-spinner started to struggle and hasn’t found the right line and length to be demolished around the park.

His nightmare continued even during the second game of the event when the Kolkata Knight Riders faced the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, and Chakravarthy was given the responsibility to handle the powerplay against Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head.  

Abhishek Sharma takes charge with explosive over against Varun Chakravarthy

After a spell of silence from Sunil Narine, the KKR captain, Ajinkya Rahane, introduced Varun Chakravarthy into the attack as Abhishek welcomed the Tamil Nadu spinner with a massive six down the ground. It was a flighted delivery on the leg as the southpaw stayed on the leg side and had the space to extend his hands as the ball sailed over the long-on.

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One ball later, the spinner increased the pace as the Punjab batter waited on the back foot and nailed the pull flat and all the way over the long-on region. On the very next delivery, he bent his knee and pumped the pitched up delivery over extra cover for a fine boundary.

The fifth ball of the fifth over was short on length, and Chakravarthy opened his bat face and got it between the two fielders in the point region before backing it with another boundary as Hyderabad earned 25 runs off the over.

How the 25-run over shifted momentum in SRH’s favour

After a three-run over from Narine, the plan from Kolkata perhaps was to put pressure with dots against the two left-handed openers of Hyderabad, and that was why they brought their mystery spinner to pick up the wicket. But things didn’t go their way.

See Also: Who is Shivang Kumar? SRH’s young spinner makes IPL 2026 debut against KKR

Chakravarthy’s 25-run over gave the entire momentum to the visitors’ side, who finished the powerplay with 84/1 as Head returned for 46 runs in just 21 balls with the help of six boundaries and three sixes.

Brief Scores: SRH 118/4 (Abhishek Sharma 48, Blessing Muzarabani 2/20) vs KKR. 

Fans react to Abhishek’s brutal assault in IPL 2026 clash

Here is how the fans have reacted to the brutal onslaught of Abhishek Sharma against Chakravarthy in the IPL 2026 clash-