Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is likely to replace injured spinner Varun Chakaravarthy in the Indian squad for the Zimbabwe T20I series that starts on July 23. Chakaravarthy had been declared fit by the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) after he had suffered an injury in the IPL 2026.
Varun missed the T20Is against Ireland, but was included in the India T20I squad for the England tour and played in 3 T20Is, taking one wicket. However, he suffered a ligament injury ahead of the 4th T20I of the series and was ruled out of the remainder of the series.
Now, as per Sportstar, the BCCI selection committee, in consultation with head coach Gautam Gambhir and CoE chief VVS Laxman, who will oversee the Indian team in Zimbabwe, has opted to include Bishnoi as a replacement for Varun.
Ravi Bishnoi had a terrible outing in the second T20I between India and England, as he went for 60 runs in his four overs, where he was taken apart by Jacob Bethell. India is set to play lots of T20Is in the upcoming calendar, and the Zimbabwe T20Is will give Bishnoi another chance to prove himself worthy.
Ravi Bishnoi, who has been the no. 1-ranked T20I bowler in the past has taken 64 wickets in 46 T20Is for India, with best bowling figures of 4/13 and an economy of 7.58.
