Varun Chakravarthy’s ODI Debut In Cuttack Denied By Ex-India Pacer

India’s mystery spinner, Varun Chakravarthy, earned a late entry in the three-match ODI squad against England as they start their last-minute preparation for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. All of their games will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The KKR spinner contributed immensely to the franchise’s third title-winning campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He was the second leading wicket-taker of the event with 21 scalps in 14 innings at an average of 19.14 and a strike rate of 14.28.

Varun Chakravarthy impresses national selectors in England T20Is

The Tamil Nadu spinner’s fabulous bowling in tough situations marked his return to the national side during the five-match T20I series against England at home. During the first game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, none of the visiting batters could read him from the hand.

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Their vice-captain, Harry Brook, showed the pad to almost every delivery before getting bowled in, tying to play the spin. Varun Chakravarthy varied the pace of his 24 balls in every clash fabulously, and he carried the same momentum for the entire series.

The Karnataka-born finished as the leading wicket-taker of the five games with the help of 14 wickets in five clashes at an average of below 10 and a strike rate of 7.71 with an economy rate of 7.66. He ended with the bowling figures of 5/24 as his best during the third encounter at the Nirajan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.

India adds Varun Chakravarthy for three ODIs vs England

There was no need for an additional spinner in the home side’s 50-over squad. The two left-arm spin all-rounder, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, the left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, and off-spinner Washington Sundar were already too many to choose from for the captain Rohit Sharma.

But Varun Chakravarthy was in excellent touch even in the 50-over format. He finished as the second-highest wicket-taker of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25 with 18 wickets in six innings at an average of 12.16 and a strike rate of 16.72, shouldering on two five-wicket hauls at the best bowling figure of 5/9 in an inning.

However, Varun didn’t play the first game of the series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. The management chose Jadeja and Axar instead, keeping Kuldeep on the side. Just two games are left before their opening Champions Trophy clash against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Zaheer Khan eliminates Varun Chakravarthy’s chances to play Cuttack ODI

Ahead of the second ODI against England, India’s former pacer, Zaheer Khan, reckoned that the management might not make any changes in their bowling line-up until they take an undefeated lead in the series. He highlighted that Virat Kohli would be coming in place of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer.

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“Keeping the next game in mind, if Virat is fit and available, he (Varun Chakravarthy) will come into the playing XI. That's the only change that I am seeing. I think they would want to finish the series and then look at making other changes.” Khan addressed this on Cricbuzz.

“Shami's playing is very important because he came back from injury, so game time is very important for him. I think Shami will play all three games. Harshit had a good debut, so I do not see that change either.” Ex-India pacer noted.

He named Gill and Phil Salt as the two players to watch out from two teams in the second ODI.