Rohit Sharma added that in the final hour, India included Varun Chakarvarthy inside the squad for the ODI series against England, having demonstrated ‘something different’ in the five-match T20I series viewed as an ‘opportunity’ for India to extend using him into 50-over cricket.
The captain, however, was cautious to say that such a call was, in fact, a step towards playing for the 2025 Champions Trophy, adding that if things worked out, he would fall in that category.
In that T20I series, Chakarvarty picked 14 wickets in 5 matches, averaging about 9.86, making life difficult for almost all the visiting batters with his variations, and that is the sort of edge India has largely been missing in their ODI set-up outside of Kuldeep Yadav. He is yet to make his ODI debut, but he has a wonderful List-A record, having picked 59 wickets at an average of 14.13 and an economy of 4.28 in 23 matches.
Rohit stated during the press conference ahead of the first ODI in Nagpur, “Yeah, look, he has definitely shown something different here. I know it’s a T20 format, but he has very clearly set himself apart from others, and hence we just wanted to have an option, to see what we can do with him during the series at some stage and see what he is capable of. Currently, we are not thinking about whether we will select him, but he will definitely be in contention. If the plans pan out well for us and he does what is required, then certainly that is something that we need to consider.”
Furthermore, in the last edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Chakaravarthy was the joint-highest wicket-taking spinner with 18 scalps at an average of 12.72.
Kl Rahul or Rishabh pant as wicketkeeper? Rohit Sharma has the answer
The wicketkeeper dispute is once again heating up, with KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant both seen reportedly working on different aspects of their game in the nets before the Nagpur match. Rohit aided the speculation, commenting that India would likely stick with Rahul as the wicketkeeper to maintain ‘continuity’ while Pant would serve as backup or an extra batting option.
“KL has kept wickets for us in ODIs for quite some time now. He has done pretty well. Just look in a 10-15 last ODIs where he has done exactly what the team looked for. Rishabh also, he is there. We have got an option of playing either one of them. Both are capable of winning games for you when the match is on. It is a good-tempered argument to have whether to go with KL or Rishabh. But just looking into what we have done in the past, that continuity is also all-important for us. That is where we stand as a team with KL and Rishabh,” he said.
