Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy was handed his debut ODI cap ahead of India’s second ODI against England in Cuttack on Sunday.
Varun’s ODI debut comes on the back of his strong outing in T20Is. Against England in the five-match T20 series, the Tamil Nadu tweaker scalped 14 wickets.
The 33-year-old also had a solid Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024 campaign, where he aggregated 18 wickets for Tamil Nadu at an incredible average of 12.16.
From 23 List-A games, Varun has tallied 59 wickets at an average of 14.13, while giving away just 4.28 runs per over.
Going into the England ODI series, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma had hinted that Varun was in contention for a last-minute spot in the Champions Trophy squad, while praising his T20 performances.
“I understand that it was a T20 format, but he has clearly got something different about him. So we just wanted to have an option and see what we can do with him.
Clearly during the series it presents us an opportunity to play him at some stage and see what he is capable of. Right now, we are not thinking about whether we are going to take him but definitely, he will be in contention. If things plan out well for us and he does what is required then definitely there is something that we need to think about.” said Rohit.