MUMBAI: While naming the spinners for the Champions Trophy, India’s national selec-tors, led by Ajit Agarkar, surprised many by replacing opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
The surprise didn’t end there. Varun was added to the squad despite the presence of four spinners who were already in the mix — Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel — both left-arm spinning allrounders — Washington Sundar, an off-spinning allrounder and Kuldeep Yadav, a wrist spinner.
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The first three names are allrounders — Axar and Jadeja are certainties because of the dependable batting and fielding skills they bring to the table. The inclusion of Varun, even with Kuldeep offering a similar skill set, has raised eyebrows.
If Axar, currently batting as high as No. 5, and Jadeja are sure to start, the million-dollar question is: Who gets to play in the XI, Kuldeep or Varun Chakravarthy?
Being a Chinaman bowler, a rarity in world cricket, Kuldeep offers a rare package, spinning the ball into the batters, taking it away from them, while making the oddball go straight through. Varun, on the other hand, can make the ball spin either way or make it zoom straight through.
Continuing his fairytale international comeback, tormenting the Englishmen with his variations by taking 14 wickets in five matches in the T20I series at 9.85 at home, Varun forced the selectors to include him in the ODIs. At 34, Varun became the oldest debutant since Farokh Engineer when he debuted in the ODI series against England.
He returned figures of 1-54 in his first ODI in Cuttack, as the English batters, as former England batter Kevin Pietersen predicted, looked slightly more comfortable while having more time to play him rather than being forced to go after him. However, to judge how he will do in this format based on just one game would not be fair.
In the last two ICC events, Kuldeep played a key role in India’s success. During India’s fine run till the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, he picked up 15 wickets in 11 matches at 28.26 and an economy rate of 4.45. With Australia’s swashbuckling opener Travis Head in full cry, the Kanpur man conceded 0-56 in 10 overs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, but the 30-year-old still finished as India’s fourth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
The wrist-spinner upped his game during the T20 World Cup 2024 as he picked up 10 wickets in five matches at 13.90 and was once again the fourth-highest wicket-taker for his side. It must be noted here that in what was a master move, India preferred to include Kuldeep instead of Mohammed Siraj the mo-ment the tournament moved to the West Indies, where the pitches are slow and slug-gish nowadays.
Two former India left-arm spinners that TOI spoke to seemed to endorse playing Kul-deep ahead of Varun in the XI at the mo-ment. “If you recall the last time that Varun played in Dubai, (back in the T20 World Cup in 2021), he wasn’t that effective. On the other hand, if you look at Kuldeep’s record, he has been very productive. So, my inclina-tion would be towards Kuldeep.
“Both are equally good spinners, but if the decision is mine, I’d pick Kuldeep. That would give my side an edge because from the same angle, Kuldeep’s ball can turn, go through straight or be a googly too, whereas Varun will have to really spin the ball, or he has to bowl straight. Nothing against Varun, but here I’m just trying to assess them as the (Indian) captain,” said Sunil Joshi, who was also a national selector when Varun was first picked for India in 2021 and is currently the Uttar Pradesh head coach.
Joshi felt that much will depend on who among the two bowlers India’s team manage-ment is looking to back right now. “It depends on what combination Rohit (Sharma, Indian captain) is looking at, what his gut feel is, who he is backing. With Axar and Jadeja certain to play, will he go for a left-arm wrist spinner, or opt for some variety in Varun,” he felt.
Nilesh Kulkarni pointed out that skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir seemed keener on Varun between the two ace spinners.
“Since Jadeja and Axar are likely to be preferred as allrounders, I’ll prefer Kuldeep as the third spinner because of the varia-tions he brings to the table. However, the team management seems to be having a lot of faith in Varun because of his mystery ability. A lot of teams haven’t played Varun, which is why, as much as I know of (Indian captain) Rohit Sharma, he would want to use him as a surprise package. Varun can bowl in the Powerplays also,” Kulkarni said.