Rohit Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy (Source: @BCCI/X.com)
Having already announced the squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, India would not want to leave any stone unturned in a bid to lift their third title. The major news coming now is that the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, in the recent press conference, hinted about picking Varun Chakravarthy as a surprise wildcard.
Chakravarthy In Contention For Champions Trophy 2025
This massive news comes after it was previously announced that the BCCI had picked Varun Chakravarthy in the squad for the upcoming India-England three-match ODI series.
Varun, the 33-year-old, was chosen in the squad on the back of excellent performances in the recently concluded T20I series, where he bagged 14 wickets in five games. In the conference, Rohit Sharma spoke about the advantage of picking Varun over other spinners and mentioned that he has the X-factor. Therefore, they want to keep the doors open for the mystery spinner.
“Yeah look, he has certainly shown something different. I understand that it is a T20 format but he has clearly got something different about him. So we just wanted to have an option and see what we can do with him,”
Furthermore, the Indian skipper added that picking Varun Chakravarthy in the squad for the ODI series will allow them to have a great look at him and ensure that he can perform well in 50-over cricket. And if he performs well in the series, there will undoubtedly be discussions over picking him for the multinational event.
“Clearly during the series it presents us an opportunity to play him at some stage and see what he is capable of. Right now we are not thinking about whether we are going to take him or not but definitely he will be in contention. If things plan out really well for us and he does what is required then definitely there is something that we need to think about.”
Previously, Chakravarthy was also seen bowling to the Indian batters during the training session that happened in Nagpur before the first ODI. Also, it will be interesting to see who among Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav misses out if Varun gets a go.
Final Date To Announce Champions Trophy Squad
India and England will engage in a three-match ODI series beginning on February 6th in Nagpur, whereas the attention will then shift to the Champions Trophy, where India are slated to play Bangladesh first on February 20th in Dubai at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, followed by Pakistan on February 23rd and New Zealand on March 2nd at the same venue.
Moreover, the final date to announce the Champions Trophy squad is 12th February after which the sides will be locked for the competition.
.jpg?type=mq "Highest Run-Scorers In India vs Eng 1st ODI!")
.jpg?type=mq?im=Resize=(250, 250) "Arnav Chopra")
