Picture Credit: Twitter/IPL/BCCI
India batter Dinesh Karthik has hinted at mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy's inclusion in the Indian Playing XI for their T20I series opener against Sri Lanka on Sunday. While Karthik has captained Chakravarthy at the Kolkata Knight Riders and knows exactly what he is capable of, he agreed that the spinner could catch the home team off guard. DK is currently in England and is commentating in The Hundred, England and Wales Cricket Board's brand new 100-ball cricket competition.
Expressing his opinion on Chakravarthy, DK took to social media to put out his thoughts. However, the funny thing was that he did not name the 29-year-old in his tweet but revealed enough information for the followers to know whom he was talking about.
"I get the feeling, a mystery spinner is going to make his debut for (Indian flag) tonight in Colombo #INDvSL #T20Cricket #T20I," he tweeted.
Check out the tweet here:
Chakravarthy was picked by the Punjab Kings for a whopping INR 8.4 crore in the IPL 2019 auction. However, he only featured in just one match as he proved to be expensive and was not given another opportunity. Although the Kings did not trust him for another chance, the Kolkata Knight Riders picked him in their squad in IPL 2020. Not only was he added to the contingent but with the likes of Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav not in their best form, Chakravarthy had a great time picking up wickets and also keeping it tight as far as the economy is concerned.
Overall, in 13 matches that season, the architect turned cricketer scalped a total of 17 wickets at an economy of t 6.84. He even managed to get a five-wicket haul against the Delhi Capitals and was consequently named in the Indian side for the Australia T20I series.
However, fitness issues, as well as injury concerns, could not help him join the squad and finally he has had a chance to travel with the team to Sri Lanka where Karthik thinks Chakravarthy could be tried. Ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year, this is being touted as a big series for players to make a mark and force selectors take notice while picking a jumbo squad for that world event set to happen in UAE.