Reports indicate that Varun Chakaravarthy, an in-form spinner, has joined India’s ODI squad in Nagpur for a short camp ahead of the three-match series against England beginning February 6.
Though there is no confirmation whether he has been included in the final 15-member squad, a report in The Times of India also asserted that he will be training in the nets with skipper Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill, as the quartet reached the venue of the first ODI early to prepare for the series.
Chakaravarthy has yet to make his ODI debut for India but is rapidly entering the conversations of 50-over cricket owing to his remarkable performances in T20Is and domestic matches.
Having been the highest wicket-taker in the recent five-match T20I series against England with 14 wickets at a phenomenal average of 9.86, he was the only bowler not to finish any match wicketless, troubling almost every visiting batter with his variations-the kind of aggressive bowling that India has missed from their ODI set-up outside Kuldeep Yadav.
Chakaravarthy also boasts of an excellent One-Day International record, having taken 59 wickets at 14.13 and at an economy of 4.28 in 23 appearances. He was a joint highest wicket-taking spinner last season in Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s premier 50-over competition, managing 18 scalps at an average of 12.72. He took five wickets in his last match, the pre-quarterfinal against Rajasthan.
India vs England ODI Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana
England: Jos Buttler (C), Philip Salt (WK), Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood
