Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra feels spinner Varun Chakravarthy is the biggest omission in India’s squad for the upcoming Asian Games. The selectors recently named a 15-member squad for the mega event to be staged in Hangzhou, China, in September-October this year and Chakravarthy has not been added.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Prima facie if you see this team, you feel they have made a good team. Such type of names could only have been there in this team. Is there any name missing? The biggest name I see missing is Varun Chakaravarthy. You had played him in the T20 World Cup in Dubai. Then he got dropped quickly but if you see the last IPL, he was one of the finest spinners. He is one name who I expected to be a part of this team but he is not there.”
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However, Varun Chakaravarthy claimed 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8.14 in the 14 matches he played for KKR in this season’s IPL as well. While talking about the level of competition might not be too high at the Asian Games, Aakash Chopra stted that Ravi Bishnoi is the only specialist spinner in the squad as well.
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“The spinners you have picked, it might not make a huge difference, because the level might not be that challenging here, you have Ravi Bishnoi – who is a proper spinner, there is no doubt about that. You have Washington Sundar, who gives you overs, although he bowled very few overs for his franchise. He keeps fighting injuries. The third is Shahbaz Ahmed. He played for India as well in between, so it is right if you see from that angle but I feel there could have been a place for Varun Chakaravarthy,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
