Reports: Varun Chakravarthy likely to debut in the first T20I

With plenty of talent waiting in the wings, India will face selection headaches even while chalking out a team from a second-string squad of sorts playing against Sri Lanka. The visitors clinched the ODI series 2-1 and will now participate in a three-match T20I series starting from July 25 in Colombo.

As per a report in TOI, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy is in line to make his debut after he was not included in either of the three ODIs. Notably, India, who had an unassailable lead of 2-0 before going into the third and final ODI, handed as many as five debuts in Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Krishnappa Gowtham, Chetan Sakariya and Rahul Chahar. However, Chakravarthy was not considered.

Chakravarthy was one of the six uncapped players in the 25-member Indian squad before the start of this series. He earned his maiden call-up before India’s tour of Australia in 2020 but had to miss out owing to a shoulder injury. Later, he was in consideration for India’s home series against England earlier this year, however, issues related to fitness ruled him out of contention.

After a couple of impressive seasons at the IPL, it seems that the spinner will finally get a look-in now as India focuses on T20 World Cup 2021 preparations. Notably, India will not have another chance to play international T20 cricket before the World Cup, even as the majority of the players will feature in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, which was postponed in May 2021 due to a spate of Covid-19 cases.

India Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya.

Sri Lanka Squad:Dasun Shanaka (captain), Dhananjaya De Silva, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashen Bandara, Minod Bhanuka, Lahiru Udara, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Binura Fernando, Dushmantha Chameera, Lakshan Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Shiran Fernando, Dhananjaya Lakshan, Ishan Jayaratne, Praveen Jayawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Isuru Udana.