became the second oldest Indian to be handed ODI debut against England in the second match of the series at Baramati Stadium at Cuttack. Ravindra Jadeja handed his ODI debut cap to Varun ahead of the match.
Farokh Engineer made his One Day International (ODI) debut for India at the age of 36 years, While Varun is just 33 years of age. In the opening match of the series in Nagpur, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harshit Rana were handed their maiden ODI cap
Varun Chakravarthy got the odi debut cap from Sir Jadeja. You might look surprised , why did he get the cap even though he won’t be playing in the champions trophy #INDvENG #ODI pic.twitter.com/s5cVHlRgI2
— Yugal (@iamYugal18) February 9, 2025
Varun Chakravarthy was added to the ODI squad ahead of the opening match in Nagpur. The star spinner wasn’t part of the original squad. Additionally, his inclusion comes after his brilliant performance against England in the recent five-T20I series, where he scalped 14 wickets and was named the Player of the Series.
Varun Chakravarthy’s domestic performance
According to ESPNcricinfo, the spinner shined in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy bagging 18 wickets (six innings) with an average of 12.16 for Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, he owns 59 wickets in 23 matches at an average of 14.13. He also boasts an economy rate of 4.28 including four five-wicket hauls.
Virat Kohli returns into playing XI
England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss for the second time in the series and opted to bat first. For India Yashasvi Jaiswal missed out for the returning Virat Kohli. Shreyas Iyer who scored a match winning half century retained his place in the team with Shubman Gill back to opening the batting. Kuldeep Yadav made way for Varun Chakravarthy in the playing XI
