'People texted me you should have been dead rather' - Varun Chakravarthy on contracting COVID-19 that paused Indian leg of IPL

It is absolutely a no-brainer that cricket rules the Indian imagination. The fans in the country strive to watch the live-action and are always raring to witness the matches. The IPL is one such tournament that has made space in everybody’s life. Thus, when the IPL 2021 was postponed as COVID-19 cases hit several camps, it did not go quite well with the fans as they were disappointed.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier were tested positive for the virus first which had postponed their game against RCB. However, after a few more cases emerged, the tournament was put on hold. The KKR spinner Varun Chakravarthy opened up about his experience when people weren’t too kind to him after the IPL was paused.

KKR shares the video of Varun Chakravarthy and a few others speaking about social media trolling

On the occasion of Mental Health Day, the Kolkata Knight Riders took it to their official Twitter account to post a video. Along with Chakravarthy, Abhishek Nayar and Dinesh Karthik also spoke about the social media trolls that can often go on to affect the players. “In a world where you can be anything, be kind 💜This #WorldMentalHeathDay, let’s pledge to refrain from social media trolling as you never know the damage it may cause #IPL2021,” the caption of the post read.

“I remember when Dr. Srikanth just called and I still remember the words he told me, it’s unfortunately positive Varun. So that just shattered everything. I really didn’t know that it is going to blow up so much. I even got emails and messages on Instagram where people told me “Rather you should have been dead,” Varun Chakravarthy said in the video.

“And that’s where I feel sometimes social media needs to be a kinder place. People don’t realize the gravity of what they say. Be it memes, be it videos, be it you know just the use of words. It is a spur of the moment thing for them at that point of time instinctively what they feel, they just put it out there, not realizing what the person reading it will go through,” Dinesh Karthik added.

“But I felt that is ridiculous. You know to go back and blame someone, a guy like Varun who is anyway so intense and takes things so seriously in life. I feel a little empathy was required. And I felt it was taken very wrongly,” Nayar said.

In a world where you can be anything, be kind 💜

This #WorldMentalHeathDay, let's pledge to refrain from social media trolling as you never know the damage it may cause.#KKRFilms x Payments on @amazonIN #PayAmazonSe #KKR #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/EQO3ZvTOn5

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) October 10, 2021