The former Indian spin-king Harbhajan Singh believes India management’s decision to include mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the Champions Trophy squad is a “masterstroke.”
On Tuesday night, India announced two massive changes in its 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy, which is set to begin next week on Wednesday.
The first one was widely speculated by many, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of the tournament with a lower back injury and Harshit Rana coming in as his replacement.
The second was a surprise to many: young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was getting dropped for Chakravarthy. The decision left fans and former cricketers with split views, with some questioning the need while others asking to bolster the pace department.
His inclusion came after his ODI debut against England in the second ODI, a match where he maintained his clinical nature and returned with figures of 1/54 in 10 overs.
Harbhajan welcomed the decision, especially after evaluating the match-defining spells that Chakravarthy has delivered for India in white-ball cricket.
“I think Varun’s selection is a masterstroke. People will ask where he came from and all that. But I think it is a masterstroke. If he has been included, he should play. He has performed incredibly well in the past couple of matches. India can use spin to win and they have that type of bowlers,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
After India swept away the ODI series with a 3-0 win against England, head coach Gautam Gambhir lifted the veil over the reason behind the spinner’s late inclusion.
According to the Indian head coach, Chakravarthy 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.
Gambhir made one aspect of Chakravarthy’s inclusion in the squad, which is that the mystery spinner is not guaranteed a spot 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 get those wickets in the middle,” he added.
Chakravarthy’s impressive run has become evident in the T20Is, but it was the five home matches against England that truly left everyone mesmerised. He finished the five T20Is as the leading wicket-taker across both teams, scything 14 scalps at a staggering average of 9.86, including a five-wicket haul.
