Zero ODI Cricketer Emerging as Strong Contender to Replace Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav in India's Champions Trophy Squad

One of the key decisions facing India ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy is their spin bowling strategy for the tournament in the UAE. While Kuldeep Yadav's unique left-arm leg spin would have been a major asset for the team, concerns over his fitness have forced the team to consider alternative options. India will need to carefully plan their spin combination to ensure success in the 50-over tournament.

While India have a stock of economical spinners who can provide control — Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja front and an extremely reliable pair of left-arm spinners who can be trusted in any conditions — they will be looking for that x-factor spinner who can operate as a wicket-taking option in the middle overs and give captain Rohit Sharma an extra option in the big grounds in Dubai.

One player whose strong performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy have significantly boosted his stocks is Varun Chakaravarthy. Although Tamil Nadu crashed out of the tournament at the quarterfinal stage against Rajasthan, Chakaravarthy left his mark with a five-fer, and finished his tournament as the current leading wicket-taker with 18 scalps in 6 games.

Chakaravarthy earned a call-back to the Indian national team for the T20I series against Bangladesh on the back of a couple of strong IPL seasons. While that is a different format and Chakaravarthy is yet to make his ODI debut, 20+ wickets in each of the last two IPL seasons at an economy narrowly above 8 against the best batters in the world is a plus in his favour.

Different Varun, different fortunes?

The factor remains that the last time India took Chakaravarthy to a major ICC tournament was a disastrous group-stage exit in the 2022 T20 World Cup. India chose to turn to a resurgent Kuldeep after that failure. However, Chakaravarthy has an added bonus this time: India's coach will be Gautam Gambhir, who has a pre-established relationship with the spinner from their shared year at the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Although Gambhir has received criticism for his red ball leadership, he has shown his white ball nous as a coach in the IPL, particularly in his ability to marshall his spin resources. Chakravarthy isn't the same mystery spinner of the past, having developed a stock ball that he can fall back to on flatter wickets, but his wicket-taking knack remains.

Following Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement and a dwindling of out-and-out spin resources, Gambhir might find the answer to his quandary a little closer to home.

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