Former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu suggested that Varun Chakravarthy be picked for the upcoming five-match Test series against England later this year due to his ‘mystery’ spin factor.
Varun was a late addition to India’s Champions Trophy 2025 squad following a sensational T20I series against England at home where he claimed 14 wickets from five games at an average of 9.8. The starring role in the T20Is which earned a maiden ODI call as he made his debut in the second ODI at Cuttack.
He was then added to the Champions Trophy squad and had to wait until the final Group A game against New Zealand. He made an instant impact against the Black Caps claiming 5-42 to set up a 44-run win for India.
He continued his impressive run in the tournament with 2-49 in the semifinal against Australia and 2-45 against New Zealand in the final as India clinched their third Champions Trophy.
Sidhu felt that England batters’ struggles against ‘mystery spin’ have existed for a long time and picking Varun for the Test series beginning in June will be a great decision for India.
“Mystery spinners are England’s weakness. It’s a swollen nerve for England. Will you leave out Varun Chakravarthy? No, you will have to play him. Or you will play Kuldeep Yadav with his high-end deliveries from both ends, they can’t read him,” Sidhu said on Sports Today.
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Despite his resurgence in the international scene, Varun hasn’t played a lot of red-ball cricket in his career. For his domestic side Tamil Nadu, the 33-year-old has played just one First-Class game way back in 2018.
According to few reports, head coach Gautam Gambhir is in plans to oversee India ‘A’ on a shadow tour of England ahead of the series.
England and India had clashed in a five-match Test series in January 2024, which India fully dominated, winning the series 4-1. However, they haven’t been good form in the whites having lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand followed by a 1-3 trouncing at the hands of Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
England, meanwhile, had beaten New Zealand away but had lost Pakistan before that.
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