Head coach Gautam Gambhir shed light on the surprise inclusion of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in place of young southpaw Yashasvi Jaiswal in India’s 15-player squad for next week’s Champions Trophy. On Tuesday night, the BCCI decided two prominent changes in India’s squad for the Champions Trophy. The first was premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of the tournament due to a lower back injury. The second change saw Jaiswal making way for Chakravarthy. He is the fifth spinner in India’s star-studded squad alongside Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar.
Gambhir disclosed that Chakravarthy’s emerging as a wicket-taking option in the middle overs was the reason for including another spinner in the squad.
“Look, the only reason was because we wanted another wicket-taking option in the middle. We know what Varun brings to the table and know that Varun can be a massive threat to a lot of teams who haven’t played him. He could be an X-factor as well,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference after India’s 3-0 series sweep over England.
With Chakravarthy’s late inclusion, Gambhir pinpointed the advantage of having a wicket-taking option but didn’t guarantee a spot for the mystery spinner in the playing XI.
“I’m not going to say that he’s going to start and all that stuff, but it’s always good to have a strong bowling line-up because we know that if he can actually get those wickets in the middle, it’s always going to be an advantage and that was one of the reasons. Otherwise, we know that Yashasvi has got a fabulous future ahead. It’s just that we could only pick 15,” he added.
Jaiswal received his maiden ODI cap in the series opener against England in Nagpur. After taking a stunning catch in the first innings, the young southpaw failed to deliver with the bat and flopped with a knock of 15(22).
In the second ODI, Jaiswal was dropped from the playing XI for Virat Kohli, and Chakaravarthy made his ODI debut. It was a clinical outing for him as he returned with figures of 1/54 in his 10-over spell.
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