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India ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill and later BCCI announced that legspinner Varun Chakaravarthy is part of the squad for the upcoming series against England.
Varun Chakaravarthy produced player-of-the-series award winning performance during the England T20Is. (BCCI Photo)
India have made a late addition to their ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series with England. India ODI vice-captain Shubman Gill on Tuesday confirmed that mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has been added to the squad and there’s a possibility that he might end up being part of their 2025 Champions Trophy campaign as well.
Chakaravarthy has joined the Indian ODI members in Nagpur and trained alongside them on Tuesday.
“Yes, Varun Chakravarthy is part of the squad,” Gill told media after the training session.
Chakaravarthy took 14 wickets during the recent five-match T20I series against England at home and played a key role in their dominant 4-1 triumph. He was chosen player-of-the-series having consistently bamboozled England batters with his tricks.
India’s updated squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ꮪhubman Gill (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy
As per news agency PTI, India head coach Gautam Gambhir wants the spinner to maintain the rhythm by bowling to the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant.
However, Chakaravarthy will only be considered for the Champions Trophy if he plays in the ODI series that gets underway from Thursday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association. His performance will be assessed based on which the final call will be made.
“As of now, the team management wanted Varun to bowl in ODI squad nets ahead of England series. Varun doesn’t play red-ball cricket,” a senior BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI.
“With domestic white ball season already concluded, he doesn’t have any assignments till start of IPL end March. He is in good rhythm and they want him to continue that,” he added.
All eight teams taking part in the Champions Trophy are allowed to make changes to their respective squads till February 12.
“The selectors have already picked four spinners and you only have three ODI games. But if team management wants Varun, it will certainly have to speak to the chairman of selection committee. Whether they intend to or not, is still not known,” the source said.
Chakravarthy had taken 18 wickets for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25.
