Varun Chakravarthy seems to be flying high at the moment. After a stellar comeback to the T20I side, the Tamil Nadu mystery spinner finds himself in the India ODI squad for the first time in his career.
He has been officially added to the squad for the three-match ODI series against England which starts on the 6th of February in Nagpur. Chakravarthy has already linked up with the squad and was training on Tuesday (February 4th).
After 20+ wickets in back to back IPL seasons, Chakravarthy was recalled to the T20I side last year and he has been in stunning form. Since returning to the setup in October last year, he has played 12 games and has returned with 31 wickets at a superb average of 11.25. He has an economy of 7.58 and has a bowling strike-rate of 8.9.
His performance of 14 wickets in the five-match T20I series against England recently earned him the player of the series award. Chakravarthy is yet to play an ODI and has played a total of 23 List ‘A’ games in his career, taking 59 scalps at an average of 14.13. He was the joint secondhighest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 as he picked up 18 wickets in six matches at an average of 12.16 and an economy of 4.36 for Tamil Nadu.
Chakravarthy’s addition is an interesting one considering India already boast of four spinners in the squad. However, Kuldeep Yadav is the sole frontline option with the other three being spin-bowling all-rounders (Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar).
Kuldeep is returning from injury and his last international game was against New Zealand in the first Test back in October 2024. The left-arm leg-spinner turned up for Uttar Pradesh in the last round of Ranji Trophy and picked up three wickets while bowling 31 overs.
Meanwhile, there is no update on Jasprit Bumrah’s availability yet. His name did not feature in the updated squad shared by the BCCI. He was initially named in the squad only for the third ODI and the Champions Trophy with Harshit Rana included for the first two games. However, no such comment was made when the BCCI officially announced Chakravarthy’s addition to the
squad.
INDIA’s UPDATED SQUAD FOR ODI SERIES AGAINST ENGLAND: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ꮪhubman Gill (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
England squad update: Rehan Ahmed to stay back as cover

Rehan Ahmed has been asked to stay back in India for the ODI series. The young leg-spinner will act as cover with Jamie Smith doubtful for the first two games, owing to a calf injury. Ahmed warmed the benches throughout the T20I series and did not get an opportunity.
England’s ODI squad is almost similar to the one that played the five-match T20I series against India recently. Joe Root is the only addition to the 50-over format and he is expected to slot back in at his usual No. 3 spot. He will be donning England colours in an ODI game for the first time since the 2023 World Cup.
The ODI series kicks off on the 6th of February in Nagpur before Cuttack and Ahmedabad host the last two games on the 9th and 12th respectively.