"Could have fit him in?" Dinesh Karthik calls for Varun Chakravarthy's inclusion in India's ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad

Varun Chakravarthy picked up three wickets in the first T20I against England.

The Indian Cricket Team secured a comfortable seven-wicket victory over England in the first T20I in Kolkata, taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

Varun Chakravarthy starred for the hosts, finishing with impressive figures of 3/23 in his four-over spell. The 33-year-old spinner took key scalps of Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, and Liam Livingstone, dismantling England’s middle order and helping India restrict them to a total of 132 runs.

The England tour India provides an opportunity for the hosts to fine tune their preparations ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Despite India picking four spinners for the tournament, Chakravarthy has not been included in the squad.

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has now weighed in on the selection decision made by the BCCI.

Dinesh Karthik calls for Chakravarthy’s inclusion in India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad

Reacting to Chakravarthy’s brilliant performance in the first T20I at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Dinesh Karthik retweeted an old post where he had advocated for India to include Varun in their Champions Trophy squad.

Karthik had posted on November 10, 2024, saying, “If India doesn’t pick VARUN CHAKRAVARTHY for the Champions Trophy, they are making a grave mistake. He’s turning out to be an outstanding bowler.“

The Indian wicketkeeper retweeted his old post, adding, “Could they have fitted him in????”

Chakravarthy has been impressive since making his comeback in India’s home T20I series against Bangladesh. The mystery spinner finished as the highest wicket-taker in the three-match series, claiming five wickets.

He continued his impressive form during the four-match T20I series in South Africa, where he once again emerged as the highest wicket-taker, claiming 12 wickets. Chakravarthy was part of India’s T20 World Cup squad in 2021 but was dropped after disappointing performances in the tournament.

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