The former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik feels that the spinner Varun Chakravarthy should have been included in India’s squad for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025.
Karthik’s remark came after Varun Chakravarthy extended his impressive run in T20I cricket, taking 3 wickets in the first match of the five-match T20I series on England’s tour of India 2025 on January 22.
BCCI selected four spinners in India’s squad with Kuldeep Yadav returning after missing the Border Gavaskar Trophy due to injury. Alongside Kuldeep, India included three spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.
The RCB batting coach has previously urged the selector to consider Varun Chakravarthy before finalising the Champions Trophy squad. Karthik emphasised that leaving out Varun would be a huge mistage, citing his stellar performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
There had been speculation that the selectors were observing Varun’s inclusion for the ICC tournament, which begins on February 19.
However, Ajit Agarkar-led committee opted for experience choosing three all-rounders to accompany Kuldeep.
Varun Chakravarthy has come under the radar with his consistent performance for Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he picked 18 wickets in 6 matches.
“Could they’ve fitted him in ????” Karthik posted on X (formerly Twitter) during the first T20I between India and England in Kolkata.
Could they’ve fitted him in ????
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 https://t.co/gCDGK8AW3n
— DK (@DineshKarthik) January 22, 2025
After playing 6 T20Is in 2021, Varun spent two years on the sidelines before joining the side for home tour against England.
He made his cut through in the national team after a consistent run in IPL 2024 for KKR under head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Ever since returning to the short format, Varun has been one of the India’s leading wicket-taker. He took 17 wickets in seven matches, including a five-wicket haul in 2024. He has begun the new season with three wickets in the series opener in Kolkata.
Varun picked the wickets of Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone in the 8th over as England went from 65 for 2 to 65 for 4. Later Varun Chakravarthy also picked the wicket of Jos Buttler who smashed 68 off 44 deliveries.
India secured a comfortable 7-wicket win in the first match of the T20I series with Abhishek Sharma’s impressive 79 runs knock.
The second T20I match of the series will begin on January 25 at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
