New Delhi: Varun Chakaravarthy became the fastest Indian spinner to complete 200 wickets in T20s as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 4 wickets at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in the IPL 2026 on Sunday, April 19. Chakaravarthy produced an impressive spell in the game and picked up a three-wicket haul to play his part in KKR’s first victory of the season.
The spinner bagged the important wickets of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag to finish with excellent figures of 3/14 off his four overs. Chakaravarthy was the pick of the bowlers for the three-time champions as KKR restricted RR to a moderate total of 155/9 before chasing down the target with two balls to spare despite a horror start.
Chakaravarthy completed 200 wickets in T20 cricket en route to his three-wicket haul against the Rajasthan Royals. He broke Kuldeep Yadav’s record to become the fastest Indian spinner to achieve the milestone. Chakaravarthy completed 200 wickets in 155 innings in T20s while Kuldeep held the record, having achieved the landmark in 160 innings.
Overall, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh remains the fastest Indian to complete 200 wickets in T20 cricket. Arshdeep, who is playing for Punjab Kings in the ongoing IPL 2026, completed 200 wickets in just 151 innings. He is also the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is.
Fastest Indian bowlers to 200 wickets in T20s (by innings):
Arshdeep Singh – 151
Varun Chakravarthy – 155
Kuldeep Yadav – 160
Jaydev Unadkat – 162
Mohammed Shami – 165
Chakaravarthy had a woeful start to the season for KKR, going wicketless in their first three matches in a row. However, the mystery spinner has managed to find his rhythm with five wickets in his last two games. He picked up a couple of wickets in KKR’s last game against the Gujarat Titans to open his account this season and followed it up with a three-wicket haul against RR at the Eden Gardens on Sunday.
KKR register first win in IPL 2026
KKR rode on Chakaravarthy’s bowling heroics and an unbeaten half-century from vice-captain Rinku Singh to beat RR by four wickets and bag their first win in the IPL 2026. KKR bowlers produced an excellent effort to restrict RR to 155/9 at the Eden Gardens after the visitors won the toss and chose to bat first in the game.
The Knight Riders got off to a sloppy start in the run chase, losing both their openers on ducks. The likes of Angkrish Raghuvanshi (10), Cameron Green (27) and Rovman Powell (23) were also dismissed cheaply. Rinku slammed an unbeaten 53 off 34 balls and combined with Anukul Roy (29 not out off 16) to chase down the target of 156 runs with two balls to spare and help KKR earn their first win in IPL 2026.