Varun Chakravarthy has been stealing the show with his recent performances and he’s grabbed the attention of many fans across the world. This is not his first stint with the team as he was featured in the XI in the 2021 T20 World Cup, but that ended up being short-lived with India’s disastrous exit in that tournament. While he wasn’t the main guy to blame for the country’s shortcomings, he was thrown in the pit of fire alongside certain other teammates during that time. However, his comeback to the international side was mainly fueled by the current head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who is very familiar with Chakravarthy’s past success with the Kolkata Knight riders who he used to coach for. Whether it be a string of luck or just pure selection bias from the coach, it is fair to say that Varun Chakravarthy has delivered big time and does indeed deserve his spot. One hot topic currently going around is should he be considered for the upcoming Champions Trophy and can he have a place in the XI? Unfortunately, despite his recent success, the chances of him being selected in already crowded ODI squad seems very unlikely. For starters, he would somehow have to one up or convince management to select him over someone like Kuldeeo Yadav, who is on track to be one of the most successful spinners India ever had in the ODI format. Also he would have to present a very compelling case for himself in the ODI series against England and currently as of today, he did funnily enough replace Kuldeep Yadav in the 2nd ODI of the series. Ending the game with a figure of 1 for 54 in 10 overs and performing admirably well. The chances of him maybe being included in the squad can be give. A thought but even then at best he can be a bench warmer.
How successful have leg spinners been in ODIs to date?
Looking back leg spinners historically have had tremendous success in ODIs. Specifically guys like Shane Warne, Adil Rashid and Adam Zampa all fit the bill for what a team would want from their spin department on the world’s biggest stage. 1999, 2019 and 2023 were all the world cups that featured one of the respective three mentioned earlier to help their teams win a World Cup. More often than not a right arm leg spinner has ended up helping and guiding their teams to win a World Cup. There is very little evidence to suggest that any other type of spin can prove to be successful specifically in these major ICC tournaments such as the ODI World Cup. In that sense Chakravarthy does present an interesting case but it is far too late in the decision making process to make a change of that caliber. Something interesting about him is that he also possesses the height that guys like Warne had which could be viewed as a natural advantage for him compared to others.
Another thing to consider is that India will most likely play 3 all-rounders because this is probably the most talented and accomplished set of all-rounders the country has ever had, all playing at once. Therefore it makes it even harder to see a side that features Varun in their lineup. All things considered the tough decision here is for India to take him over Kuldeep Yadav, but that will not be done. Could that be the decision that costs the side a ICC trophy in March? Probably not, but it can be something to look back at if they don’t end up meeting their goal, which would be to win the tournament. What is the general consensus of Varun Chakravarthy possibly being left out of the squad let alone the playing 11?