Varun Chakravarthy made a long-awaited return to the Indian team as he featured in the first T20I of the ongoing series against Bangladesh. Chakravarthy, who is touted as a mystery spinner, won his seventh T20I cap in the series opener at the New Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium in Gwalior.
Chakravarthy has surpassed stars like Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube with his comeback in the Indian team. The KKR spinner has stormed into the second place in list of Indians to miss most T20Is between two appearances.
Chakravarthy, who last played for India in the 2021 T20 World Cup, missed 86 T20Is for his next cap. Samson and Dube were not part of 73 and 70 T20I matches in between their appearances. The list is led by pacer Khaleel Ahmed, who missed 104 games between his two appearances.
Indians to miss most T20Is between two appearances:
1. Khaleel Ahmed (2019-24) - 104 matches
2. Varun Chakravarthy (2021-24) - 86 matches
3. Sanju Samson (2015-20) - 73 matches
4. Shivam Dube (2020-23) - 70 matches
Chakravarthy had an impressive outing on his return as he bagged three wickets for 31 runs in his four overs. He got the wickets of Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali and Rishad Hossain and troubled the batters with his skills.
India opted to bowl first in the first T20I. The Men in Blue handed debuts to Mayank Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy for the opening game. "We'll look to bowl first. Looks humid, don't think the wicket will change later on. Always a great feeling coming back home and playing in home conditions. We are really excited for that.
"There's a lot of talent involved in the group. The energy is great and most importantly, the guys are keen to learn. That's a great thing. (On the stadium) Looks beautiful, the crowd here looks lovely, very excited to play here. Guys who are missing out are Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana and Jitesh," India captain Suryakumar said at the toss.
Playing XIs:
Bangladesh Playing XI: Litton Das(w), Parvez Hossain Emon, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam
India Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Nitish Reddy, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav
