Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni axed as Varun Chakravarthy reveals his best T20 XI

Varun Chakravarthy picked three Indian players in his best T20 XI.

Indian Cricket Team spinner Varun Chakravarthy has revealed his dream T20 XI, however, he did not pick batting legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in his team. Sharma and Kohli announced their retirement from T20Is after ICC T20 World Cup 2024 last year.

During a conversation with former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Chakravarthy was asked about his best T20 XI. However, Ashwin kept one condition for Chakravarthy that the latter can only pick players he has played with.

Notably, Chakravarthy played under skipper Kohli in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Earlier this year, he was part of Rohit Sharma-led Indian team that won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The right-arm spinner picked three Indian players in his best T20 team.

For the openers, the Indian spinner went ahead with former England captain Jos Buttler and Australia’s Travis Head. He kept Suryakumar Yadav at the one-down slot. In the middle-order, picked Nicholas Pooran and Heinrich Klaasen.

Hardik Pandya and Andre Russell are two pace all-rounders in his team. In the spin department, he included Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan. For pacers, he chose Jasprit Bumrah and Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana.

Varun Chakravathy’s best T20 XI, no place for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Jos Buttler, Travis Head, Suryakumar Yadav, Nicholas Pooran, Heinrich Klaasen, Hardik Pandya, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, and Matheesha Pathirana.

Meanwhile, the 33-year-old spinner played a wonderful role during India’s victory in ICC Champions Trophy 2025 earlier this year. He captured nine wickets in three games to finish as India’s joint-highest wicket-taker along with Mohammed Shami. So far, he has played four ODIs and 18 T20Is for India.

Chakravarthy had a great time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where he ended as the top wicket-taker for his team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). At an economy of 7.66, the KKR spinner captured 17 wickets in 13 matches. He is highly likely to be part of India’s white-ball series against Bangladesh in August.

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