India add mystery spinner for England ODIs with an eye on Champions Trophy
Varun Chakravarthy, who was the leading wicket-taker for India in the recently concluded T20I series against England, has been added to the ODI series starting on 6 February.
Chakravarthy joined the India squad in Nagpur ahead of the first ODI against England.
The off-spinner took 14 wickets at an average of under 10 in the recently concluded T20I series against England. His exceptional run was marked by his ability to take wickets at any stage of play, with the England batters finding it difficult to read him.
There were calls from prominent cricketing figures, including Ravichandran Ashwin, who had backed Chakravarthy’s inclusion in the lineup, “We are all talking about whether he should have been there (Champions Trophy squad), I am thinking there is a chance he might be there. I have a feeling he might make it.”
With Chakravarthy’s addition, India have five spin-bowling options for the England ODIs. Of these, it is possible that India finalise four for the Champions Trophy. The deadline for Champions Trophy squads is 11th February.
Squad for England ODIs:
Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman 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, Varun Chakaravarthy.