‘Definitely in Contention’ – Rohit Sharma on Varun Chakravarthy’s Inclusion in Indian Champions Trophy Squad

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Team India skipper Rohit Sharma is not ruling out the possible inclusion of Varun Chakaravarthy in the Men Blue's Champions Trophy 2025 squad after the mystery spinner was added to the ODI squad to face England.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced earlier in the week that star spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has been added to Team India's squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against England.

Varun, who picked 14 wickets in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against England, linked up with the ODI squad in Nagpur after his stellar bowling performance in the shortest format, a release from BCCI stated.

While many felt he was unlucky to not earn a Champions Trophy call up, skipper Rohit has opened up about the possible inclusion of Varun in the squad for the ICC event. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Rohit opened up on Varun's addition to India's squad for the ODI series against England.

"I understand that it is in T20 format but, he has clearly got something different about him. So we wanted to have an option and see what we could do with him. During the series, it presents us with an opportunity to play him at some stage and see what he is capable of," Rohit was quoted by ICC as saying.

When asked if Varun will be added to India's squad for the Champions Trophy 2025, Rohit said that there are no plans as of now, but the mystery spinner will "definitely" be in contention if things plan out well.

"Right now, we're not thinking about whether we're going to take him (for Champions Trophy) or not but he definitely will be in contention if things plan out really well for us and he does what is required then that is definitely something we need to think about," Rohit added.

The Indian Champions Trophy squad already includes four spin bowling options in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar. Three of the aforementioned names also double up with the skill of batting.

Jadeja and Kuldeep are likely to be the first picks in the eleven with Axar and Sundar providing cover. However, Varun will bring something different in terms of variety to the attack if selected. So, it will be interesting to see if Team India management include the mystery spinner in the Champions Trophy squad before the February 12 deadline.