Varun Chakaravarthy might be added to the India cricket team’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy. The mystery spinner was added to Team India’s ODI squad for the England series yesterday (February 4) off the back of great performances in T20Is since his return to the format in October of last year. Now, Rohit Sharma has confirmed that Varun remains in contention to make Team India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.
Varun Chakaravarthy in India’s Champions Trophy squad?
Teams can tweak their squad until February 11 as per ICC’s rules; that means the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) can make changes in the next six days.
“Look, he has certainly shown something different. I understand that it is a T20 format (where he has performed), but he has clearly got something different about him. So we just wanted to have an option and see what we could do with him,” Rohit Sharma told reporters in Nagpur.
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Jasprit Bumrah out, Varun Chakaravarthy in?
Right now, only one spot is up for grabs. And that someone who can be replaced with is Jasprit Bumrah. The pacer is currently out injured, and there isn’t any update regarding his fitness. He was supposed to play the India vs. England 3rd ODI, but the BCCI excluded him from the squad when they announced Varun’s inclusion.
Considering the type of pitch Dubai offers, adding Varun into the mix doesn’t seem like an odd choice. With Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, and Hardik Pandya there, Team India might not feel the need to add more pacers. But a mystery spinner like Varun can be quite a handful.
“Clearly during the series it presents us an opportunity to play him at some stage and see what he is capable of. Right now we are not thinking about whether we are going to take him or not, but definitely, he will be in contention. If things pan out really well for us and he does what is required, then definitely there is something that we need to think about,” the Indian skipper added.
India squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (subject to fitness), Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
