T20I exploits usher Varun Chakaravarthy into India’s ODI squad

Varun Chakaravarthy has been added to the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against England. Even though he doesn’t feature in India’s Champions Trophy squad, which includes four spinners, his maiden call-up comes on the back of a phenomenal showing in the shortest format.

After his 21-wicket season in IPL 2024 in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning campaign, he became a certain starter in the Indian T20I side. The purple patch continued at the international level with him bagging the Player of the Series award against England in the just-concluded T20I series where the opposition batters consistently failed to pick his variations.

He was one of the chief architects of India’s 4-1 victory, arresting 14 wickets at an average of 9.86 with an economy of 7.66. Varun travelled with the squad to Nagpur, the venue for the first ODI, and partook in the training session ahead of the series opener on Thursday. The Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium recently underwent a renovation so that should translate to better hospitality for the spectators.

Varun has played only 23 List A games but was the second highest wicket-taker in this season’s Vijay Hazare Trophy with 18 wickets in six matches for Tamil Nadu. His drafting into the ODI squad bolsters a spin-attack that already included Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.

There have been calls from the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik for the mystery spinner to be included in the Champions Trophy squad. Kuldeep Yadav is India’s only frontline spin option in the squad while Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar have been picked as spinning all-rounders.

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson injured his left index finger in the final T20I against England and has been ruled out for six weeks. Samson came into the T20I series brimming with confidence, having pillaged three centuries in his last five games. However, he made only 51 runs in the entire series against England with the pull shot often spelling his doom. Despite the setback, the keeper-bat is expected to be fully fit by the time the IPL begins where he will lead Rajasthan Royals once again.

With the BCCI recently emboldening its stance on the participation of the national players in domestic cricket, Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav have made themselves available for Mumbai for the Ranji Trophy knockouts. Both were a part of the T20I squad but aren’t in the ODI setup at the moment. Mumbai’s next fixture is their quarterfinal clash against Haryana in Lahli.

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Broadcast Schedule

India v England White ball series
IND v ENG 2nd ODI, Cuttack
9th February
Start time: 8:00 am GMT
IND v ENG 3rd ODI, Ahmedebad
12th February
Start time: 8:00 am GMT