Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has been added to the national squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against England. The mystery spinner was training with the Indian team in Nagpur on Tuesday.

Eventhough he hasn't been named in India's Champions Trophy squad, which includes four spinners, his inclusion in the side comes at the back of a stellar recent run in the shortest format. After his 21-wicket season in IPL 2024 in KKR's title-winning campaign, he nailed his spot in the Indian T20I side.

The dream run continued at the international level with him winning the Player of the Series award against England in the just-concluded T20I series where he tormented the opposition batters consistently. There have been calls from the likes of R Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik for the mystery spinner to be included in the Champions Trophy squad. Kuldeep Yadav is India's only frontline spin option in the squad, but they also have three spin bowling allrounders in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.

Samson sidelined

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson has injured his left index finger in the final T20I against England and is set to be ruled out for six weeks. Samson came into the T20I series on the back of scoring three centuries in his last five games. However, he made only 51 runs in the five games against England with the short-ball consistently proving to be his nemesis. Despite the setback, Samson is expected to be fully fit by the time the IPL comes around where he will lead Rajasthan Royals once again.