Rohit Sharma defends Varun Chakravarthy’s inclusion claims wanting to “see” what spinner can do at big stage

The newest addition to the India Cricket Team squad for the ICC Champions Trophy was Varun Chakravarthy. The spinner went on to replace Yashasvi Jaiswal in the final squad for the Men in Blue. Ahead of India’s opening clash against Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma revealed why the spinner was picked despite not being great in the IND vs ENG ODI series.

Heading into the mega ICC event, Varun Chakravarthy has played just a single ODI game which he made in the recent series against the Three Lions. He got his chance in the ODI setup after performing exceptionally well in the IND vs ENG T20I series.

Varun Chakravarthy has something different to offer

“He’s got something different which is why he’s here. Whatever we’ve seen of him in the last 8-9 months, we wanted to bring him here and see what he can do for Team India on a big stage. Let’s see how much he can execute the same on the field,” Rohit Sharma said in the Press Conference.

Rohit Sharma also claimed that the team doesn’t know the full strength of the spinner. The Hitman claimed that Varun remains secret during practice sessions as well. He added that the spinner doesn’t throw many variations during the nets as he throws the ball in the same way.

“He doesn’t throw many variations in the net. He throws the ball in the same way. Maybe he doesn’t even want to show us what he has (laughs). But that is a good thing. He has got a certain weapon that he wants to put out there when it actually matters. I am more than happy if he wants to do that. But he has got something different which is why he is here with us. Whatever we have seen of him in the last 8-9 months, it has been very impressive,” Rohit concluded.