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Cricket Players'What was he doing in last 3-4 months': Asks Hemang Badani after Varun Chakravarthy fails fitness test again
“What was he doing the last 3-4 months when he wasn’t playing any cricket and nursing a shoulder injury,” Badani asked on Twitter after Varun Chakravarthy failed fitness again ahead of the India vs England T20 series.
Former India batsman Hemang Badani expressed his disappointments after leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy failed to clear the fitness test and was ruled out of the upcoming India vs England T20I series.
“What was he doing the last 3-4 months when he wasn’t playing any cricket and nursing a shoulder injury," Badani asked on Twitter.
“Understand a lot of ppl r upset with Varun not available for selection as he failed the fitness test. All players are aware of the test & he shd av been ready,” he added.
Chakravarthy was first selected for the Australia tour but was ruled out due to a shoulder injury. The new India selection committee, however, kept faith on the young spinner who made name for himself in IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Chakravarthy was included in the India T20 squad for the five-match series against England starting on March 12 after recovering from his shoulder injury.
But as it turned out, Chakravarthy failed to clear the fitness at the National Cricket Academy repeatedly.
"Varun Chakravarthy was selected because he recovered from his shoulder injury that ruled him out of the Australia series. He did his rehab at the NCA and started throwing normally.
"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.
The question now being asked is why did the Chetan Sharma led committee select such a player, who, after the month of October, hasn't played even one competitive game for his state Tamil Nadu.
"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 a criteria for selection."
BCCI are yet to name a replacement for Chakravarthy but it is learnt that Rahul Chahar will be inducted in the squad as he is already in the bio-bubble since the start of the Test series.
(With PTI inputs)
