India spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who played a key role in India’s two title wins this year – Champions Trophy 2025 and Asia Cup 2025, was left out of the ODI squad recently announced for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia.
While Varun retained his spot in the T20I side, it is understood that there was no room to fit him in the 50-over setup Down Under leading to his exclusion.
When quizzed about the omission, Varun Chakravarthy said on the side-lines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday (October 7),
“I expect to be in every team but it’s up to the selectors. Maybe the pitchers there offer less of a chance. If you see in the Champions Trophy also I was brought in as a replacement for Yashasvi (Jaiswal) as well. So it just depends on the conditions.”
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With Varun being part of the CT2025 win, it is natural to question why the team management dropped him in the format against Australia.
Firstly, it is the conditions that have played a big role in the decision. The Champions Trophy was held in UAE which has spin friendly pitches which is why India went with as many as five-spinners in Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
On the other hand, the strips in Australia favour pace and bounce, where Varun wouldn’t be as effective.
Furthermore, with the selectors already backing spinners such as Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel, there was essentialy no place to fit in Varun in the ODI squad.
The three-match ODI leg is slated to kickstart from October 19, followed by games on October 23 and October 25 before the five T20Is start from October 29.
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