India captain Rohit Sharma fielded questions about the inclusion of mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy in the Indian ODI squad for the three-match series against England.
Chakaravarthy, who was the Player of the Series in T20Is, joined the Indian squad in Nagpur for the 1st ODI that begins on February 6.
The India skipper explained why Varun Chakravarthy was chosen in the ODI squad despite already having Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel on the roster. Varun hasn’t played any ODIs for India but has a decent List-A record for Tamil Nadu. He has 59 wickets in 23 50-over domestic matches with a best of 5/9 and an economy of 4.28.
His last appearance was during the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this year and he bagged a fifer vs Rajasthan in the preliminary quarter-final clash in Vadodara.
"He has certainly shown something different. I understand that it is in T20 format, but he's clearly got something different about him. So we just wanted to have an option and see what we can do with it. Clearly, during the series it presents us an opportunity to play him at some stage and see what he is capable of,” Rohit Sharma told reporters on the eve of the first ODI in Nagpur.
When asked if the team management is considering Chakravarthy for the Champions Trophy, Rohit said that while he isn't currently focusing on Chakravarthy for the squad, the leg-spinner is definitely in the running.
"Right now we are not thinking about whether we're going to take him or not, but definitely he will be in contention. If things pan out really well for us and he does what is required, then definitely there is something that we need to think about," he added.
These three ODIs against England will be the only 50-over international games India will play before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
(PTI inputs)
