After forcing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee to pick him for the ODI series against England, Varun Chakravarthy earned his maiden cap in the 50-over format in international cricket on Sunday. Varun made his debut as India took on England in the second ODI of the series at Cuttack. Aged 33, the Kolkata Knight Riders star also scripted history in the process, becoming the oldest player in India’s history to make his debut in ODI cricket, not counting the country’s maiden one-day match in 1974.
Overall, it is Farokh Engineer, who holds the No. 1 spot in the list of oldest ODI debutants for India. He had had made his debut in 1974 at the age of 36 years and 138 days.
Varun was a late addition to the Indian squad for the ODI series against England, with the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee adding the spinner after seeing his exemplary show against the same opponents in the T20I series. Yet, there was no place for the spinner in the first ODI at Nagpur. However, against England in the second ODI, Kuldeep Yadav was sacrificed to make space for Chakravarthy.
For India, Virat Kohli came back after recovering from a sore knee and Yashasvi Jaiswal was benched while Chakravarthy made his debut. For England, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, and Jamie Overton come back into the playing XI.
England skipper Buttler said during the toss, “We are going to bat first today. We have been pushing in the right direction, play better for longer and hopefully have a good day today. Looks a bit dry, with black soil. Looks a good wicket. Three changes, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton come into the XI.”
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said during the toss, “It was a good performance in the first game. That’s what I loved about. The energy was very good despite not being on the field for a while. It was superb to watch after losing two wickets. Shreyas prides himself on that intent and attitude and not to forget the contributions of Shubman and Axar as well. Black soil pitch, not sure. Maybe play on the slower side, that is what I expect. Two changes, Jaiswal makes way for Virat. Kuldeep is rested so Varun makes his debut.”
Topics mentioned in this article
Add comment