The dreaded Varun Chakravarthy, who only recently had international batsmen in a spin during India’s victorious ICC Champions Trophy campaign, is a spinner Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) depend on to retain the IPL silverware. Ditto West Indian all-rounder Sunil Narine, who has consistently posed problems for KKR’s opponents over the years. 

Yet, Chakravarthy and Narine were not able to stop Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) from running away to a seven-wicket win in the IPL-18 opener at Eden Gardens on March 22.