With the Champions Trophy approaching, all eyes of the Indian fans have turned on the national selectors in anticipation of the Indian squad. January 12 was the deadline to announce the initial squads, however, as reported in Cricbuzz, the Indian selectors are likely to request an extension and the squad announcement is expected to take place on January 18 or 19.
The selectors will have work cut for them to name the squad with several players knocking on the doors. One among them is leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s possible inclusion in the Champions trophy squad which doing the rounds in the media. Chakravarthy has been in form in the white-ball format. He took 17 wickets in seven T20Is last year and is also the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy with 18 scalps to his name. While Chakravarthy has not played an ODI, his performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and in the T20Is recently have put his case as an option for the selectors.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has given his opinion on who can Chakravarthy replace if he comes into the squad. The former batter heaped praise on the mystery spinner for his consistent performances.
“Varun Chakaravarthy is picking up wickets one after the other. He has done well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy also. He took a five-wicket haul against Rajasthan and has been continuously doing well. Since he has returned to the Indian T20I team, he has been picking up wickets every single time,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra further opined who will he replace if he gets a call-up for the ODIs. “The rumour market is hot, the Indian cricket atmosphere has become like that as we get a lot of source-based news and a few of them come true, that Varun Chakaravarthy could be picked for the Champions Trophy. If he gets picked, who will go out – Ravindra Jadeja? That’s what I have been hearing,” Chopra added.
He further also stated that Axar Patel can also be picked in place of Jadeja in the Playing XI. “I hope I hadn’t heard that but it has come now that Ravindra Jadeja might not be picked and you might see Varun Chakaravarthy in his place in the XI. There is a strong possibility. So you will see Axar in place of Jaddu,” he said.
