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The 33-year-old spinner was in red-hot form for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and he accounted for the dismissal of 18 batters in six matches.
KKR star to likely to replace Kuldeep Yadav in India’s Champions Trophy squad. (Picture Credit: AP)
The BCCI selectors are set to meet this weekend to pick India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and for the white-ball series at home against England. If reports are to be believed, Kuldeep Yadav is a doubtful starter due to his fitness. The Kanpur-based cricketer hasn’t played any competitive match since October 2024 due to an injury. If, in case, Kuldeep, who has 172 wickets to his name in 106 ODIs played so far, misses out on a place in the Indian team, then he is likely to be replaced by Tamil Nadu spinner Varun Chakravarthy and not Yuzvendra Chahal.
Chahal is India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is but hasn’t played for the Men in Blue since August 2023. His last ODI for India was against New Zealand in January 2024. On the other hand, 33-year-old Chakavarthy is yet to play any 50-over match for the Indian team. He has played 13 T20Is so far and has 19 wickets to his name.
Chakravarthy has made a case for his selection in India’s 15-member Champions Trophy squad by producing a good show with the ball in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Tamil Nadu. He finished the campaign with 18 wickets in six matches, which also includes five-wicket hauls against Rajasthan and Mizoram.
Chakravarthy’s recent performances for India
Chakravarthy played three T20Is for India against Bangladesh in October 2024 and four T20Is against South Africa in November. In his comeback match, Chakravarthy picked up three wickets for 31 runs against Bangladesh in Gwalior on October 6 and followed it up with 2 wickets in the second T20I played at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
In the four T20Is against South Africa, Chakravarthy dismissed 12 batters, which helped him break R Ashwin’s record of taking the most wickets for India in a bilateral T20I series.
India’s likely squad for CT
Rohit Sharma, despite his recent struggles in Test cricket, is set to lead India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is set to start on February 19 in Karachi. Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya are certain to get picked, but there are question marks over the availability of Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah is dealing with a back spasm these days, and because of that he didn’t bowl in the second innings of the fifth Test against Australia.
