Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has questioned Varun Chakravarthy’s selection and said his bowling isn’t suited for ODI cricket. Chakravarthy made his ODI debut against England in the second game of the series at Cuttack and returned with figures of 1-54 in his quota of 10 overs.
The 33-year-old accounted for Phil Salt and gave the first breakthrough to the home team. Meanwhile, Chakravarthy was brilliant in the five-match T20I series, taking 14 wickets in five games at an average of 9.86 against England. Thus, he was awarded Player of the Series for his fine performance.
Ali reckons Chakravarthy will not be able to handle five fielders inside the circle in the 50-over version.
Basit Ali said on his YouTube Channel, “His bowling isn’t suited for 50-over cricket. He would not be able to handle it if there are five fielders in the circle. He survived because it was India’s home ground. His length is not what you need to bowl in ODIs.”
On the other hand, former Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla said you can not straight away take Varun Chakravarthy in as India already has a quality spin attack, that has performed consistently.
“There are bowlers who have been doing well for quite some time. Axar (Patel) and (Ravindra) Jadeja all-rounders and Kuldeep, who has been taking wickets in the middle-overs for long, have been performing. So, straight away, you can’t take him (Varun) in.”
India has picked Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav as the four spinners for the Champions Trophy.
The final and third ODI between India and England will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
