TNPL 2026 — Rohan Ravi Bhutra looking to apply lessons learnt from Varun Chakaravarthy and Rashid Khan

For Rohan Ravi Bhutra, the art of mystery spin is less about possessing an endless repertoire of deliveries and more about keeping a batter guessing.

The 24-year-old, who will turn out for Madurai Panthers in the upcoming TNPL season, said his biggest weapon is the ability to disguise his leg-break and googly. He also bowls the top-spinner, side-spinner, and flipper.

Rohan counts Varun Chakaravarthy among his biggest influences, having shared the dressing room with him at Dindigul Dragons in the 2023 TNPL before reuniting with him as a net bowler at Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024. 

“I actually followed his bowling even before I met him. I tried to copy his grips. Whatever doubts I have in my bowling, I just go to him and he helps me a lot. I’m in touch with him,” he said on the sidelines of Panthers’ jersey launch on Saturday.

Rohan tries to replicate Varun’s leg-spin grip to generate extra bounce on flatter surfaces. “It makes it difficult for the batters to go for the sweep shot,” he added.

Watching Rashid Khan at close quarters during his stint as a Gujarat Titans net bowler in 2025 taught him the value of changing pace without altering his action.

“Rashid himself was working on slower balls. Everyone knows how fast he bowls, but he was working on bowling with the same action while slowing the ball through the air. The batter gets deceived, and if you bowl slower, the ball turns more. You can see the example of Adil Rashid – bowling slower, getting dip and turn. From Rashid, I learnt that there should be pace in T20, but you should also know how to bowl slow,” he said.

Published on Aug 01, 2026