The Indian squad for the three-match ODI series vs Australia could be announced soon. And as is the case always, there will be a few surprise inclusions and exclusions too. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel has one of the hardest jobs, not only in picking a well-balanced squad, but also that pleases everyone.
Varun Chakravarthy for IND vs AUS ODIs?
And this time around, the selection question will be on spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Will he, or will he not make the India squad? The 34-year-old last played an ODI in March this year, in the Champions Trophy, and was excellent there, picking up 9 wickets in only three matches. Apart from that, if one takes a look at his List A career too, he has been a thorough wicket-taker — 69 scalps in only 27 matches at a strike-rate of 20 only.
Besides that, in the last year or so, he has been a regular in the T20I side, bagging 40 wickets in 24 matches. He had a decent Asia Cup too. So, all that suggests, he should be in the squad. So, where does the problem really lie? Well, the ODI series will be played in Australia, where the pitches might not be the same as in India and the UAE, where he has predominantly played his cricket.
A little more pace on the wickets, might just make him a little vulnerable. Besides, there has been a pattern with coach Gautam Gambhir, where he tends to give more chances to players who are all-rounders. And Varun Chakravarthy is far from being one. Nothing against his bowling, but the likes of Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, on any given day have better chances of selection due to their all-round skills than Chakravarthy.
All-rounders Could be Preferred
A pacer like Harshit Rana, who has better batting credentials in domestic cricket than the spinner, is likely to be picked as well. There are doubts over the selection of Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant as well, but they could have obvious replacements in Shivam Dube and Dhruv Jurel. So, all-in-all, despite being worthy of a place in the squad, Chakravarthy might not be there, after all.
India Predicted Squad for IND vs AUS
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana.
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