Varun Chakravarthy’s wait to play for India will continue as he after failing the fitness Test twice will not feature in the T20I series against England. Also, promising left-arm seamer T. Natarajan has a shoulder niggle which is why he is likely to miss at least a couple of matches of the T20I series.
Talking about spinner Varun Chakravarthy he recovered from his shoulder injury at the NCA because of which he was unable to play against Australia. However, ahead of the T20I series against England Chakravarthy failed to clear his yo-yo Test twice which has now become a benchmark to be selected in India’s squad.
Varun Chakravarthy Fails Fitness Test Twice
“However, he has failed to clear the YoYo test mark stipulated for a 2km run at least twice”, a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
T. Natarajan struggling with a shoulder niggle
Now, the questions will be raised on the selection committee led by Chetan Sharma who picked Varun Chakravarthy in India’s squad when he last played a game in October. The spinner is clearly not match ready as he has now failed his fitness Test twice and will now have to work extremely hard on his fitness.
The source added that Chakravarthy cant be picked in the squad only on the basis of bowling and he has to maintain fitness standards set by all the other Indian players.
“We can understand he was doing his rehab during Mushtaq Ali (T20 Championship). But then again, he didn’t play a single Vijay Hazare Trophy game. How do you assess his match fitness based on games that he played five months back? I guess Varun Chakravarthy is a lesson for selectors”, said the source.
“If a player is generally not maintaining the standards set by this Indian team, his bowling alone can’t be criteria for selection”, he added.
Meanwhile, in place of Varun Chakravarthy Mumbai Indians spinner, Rahul Chahar is likely to be part of India’s squad as he was part of the bio-bubble since the start of the Test series. As far as T. Natarajan is concerned he will now be assessed by the NCA medical team who will decide when he will be match ready.
Also Read: Mumbai Indians Spinner In Line To Be Added To India Squad For England T20Is