India has added Varun Chakravarthy to their squad for the upcoming ODI series against England, ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025.
Chakravarthy, the standout performer in the recent IND vs ENG T20I series, claimed 14 wickets at an average of 9.8 in five matches, making him the top wicket-taker for India.
Indian media outlets report that the mystery spinner has joined the squad in Nagpur for training ahead of the first ODI on February 6.
This decision follows mounting support from cricket experts and former cricketers, urging the inclusion of Chakravarthy in the squad for the ODI series and the Champions Trophy 2025.
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was one of the strongest advocates for Chakravarthy’s inclusion after his impressive performance against England in the T20I series. On his YouTube channel, Ashwin said, “We are all talking about whether he should have been there (in the Champions Trophy squad), I feel there is a chance he might be there. I have a feeling he might make it.”
With Chakravarthy’s inclusion, India now has five spinners in their squad for the ODI series: Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Chakravarthy.
Reports suggest that the BCCI is likely to finalize four of these five spinners for the Champions Trophy 2025.
While India has already submitted their preliminary squad for the tournament, the deadline for submitting the final squads is February 11.
Squad for England ODIs: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), 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, and Varun Chakravarthy.
