Following India's dominant clean sweep of England in the ODI series, head coach Gautam Gambhir revealed the reason behind picking Varun Chakravarthy in Champions Trophy 2025 squad. Gambhir's comments came after India's resounding 142-run win over England in the third ODI at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on February 12. This series win came as a big confidence-booster for Rohit Sharma-led Team India as they head into the Champions Trophy 2025, especially after a string of losses in Tests.
Gambhir addressed the media after the third ODI and explained the rationale behind including Varun Chakravarthy in India's Champions Trophy squad. Gambhir stressed on Chakravarthy's potential to disrupt opposition batters during the crucial middle overs of a match. He clarified that despite Chakravarthy's absence from the third ODI due to a sore calf, the leg-spinner remains a vital component of India's bowling strategy for the Champions Trophy. Gambhir went on to say that Chakravarthy could be India's X-factor in the upcoming eight-team tournament which is set to start from February 19.
“Look, the only reason was because we wanted another wicket-taking option in the middle [overs]. And we know what Varun brings to the table, we know that Varun can be a massive threat. And with a lot of teams who haven’t played him, he could be an x-factor as well. 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,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference on February 12.
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Notably, Chakravarthy could only feature in just one match in the ODI series against England, but the disruption he caused in the T20I outing is still etched in everyone's memory. The mystery spinner was adjudged the Player of the series in the five-match T20I outing against England where he took 14 wickets, including a fifer, which is the reason he was expedited to the 50-over format right ahead of the Champions Trophy. India will kick off their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 before meeting their arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-octane clash on February 23. Rohit Sharma will then lock horns with New Zealand in their last league match which will be played on March 2.
India's updated Champions Trophy squad:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non Travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. The three players will travel to Dubai as and when required.