 "Varun Chakravarthy celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Phil Salt. Image: Reuters")
India’s mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy made a dream start to his ODI career, picking up his maiden international wicket in the second ODI against England. The 33-year-old, known for his deceptive variations, dismissed Phil Salt for 26, giving India a much-needed breakthrough.
Chakravarthy, introduced into the attack in the eighth over, struck in his third over with a well-flighted leg-break. Salt, looking to slog across the line, failed to get the desired connection and ended up miscuing it to mid-on, where Ravindra Jadeja made no mistake with the catch.
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The wicket came at a crucial time for India, as Salt and Ben Duckett had given England a solid start. Chakravarthy nearly had a second scalp in the same over, but India lost a DRS review against Joe Root after the ball-tracking showed it turning down leg.
Making his debut in place of Kuldeep Yadav, Chakravarthy impressed with his control and variations, keeping the English batters on their toes. He also etched his name into the record books as the second-oldest Indian to debut in ODIs, behind Farookh Engineer.
Varun Chakravarthy’s inclusion in India’s ODI XI is a strategic move, with the team considering him as a potential option for the 2025 Champions Trophy. He is being kept as an emergency backup, especially if Jasprit Bumrah is unable to recover in time for the ICC tournament.
India vs England, 2nd ODI: Playing XIs
India’s Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
England’s Playing XI: Philip Salt (w), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood