Varun Chakravarthy was selected because he was recovering from a shoulder injury that excluded him from the Australian series.
Ahmedabad: Leg spinner Varun Chakravarthy’s failure to pass the fitness tests ruled him out while Pacer T Natarajan competes against time to be ready to fight, which at least got him for the early part of the Indian T20 series with five games against England, the here on Friday starts making doubtful.
Chakravarthy has repeatedly failed the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, while the York specialist Natarajan has not yet been accepted into the squad due to an obvious “shoulder crack”.
“Varun Chakravarthy was selected because he was recovering from a shoulder injury that had excluded him from the Australian series. He did his rehab at the NCA and started throwing normally.
“However, he failed to meet the yo-yo test mark, which was set at least twice for running a 2K,” said a senior BCCI official.
The question that is now being asked is why the committee chaired by Chetan Sharma selected such a player who did not even play a competitive game for his state of Tamil Nadu after the month of October.
“We can understand that he did his rehab during the Mushtaq Ali (T20 championship). On the other hand, he didn’t play a single Vijay Hazare Trophy game. How do you rate his match fitness based on games he played five months ago? I think Varun Chakravarthy is a lesson for selectors, ”the source said.
“If a player generally does not meet the standards set by this Indian team, bowling alone cannot be a selection criterion.”
Rahul Chahar is known to join the roster as he has been in the bio-bubble since the test series began.
In the case of Natarajan, the NCA’s medical staff are trying to get him fit, or at least the later part of the series.
Rahul Tewatia is training with the Indian team in Ahmedabad and is waiting for his second fitness test results.
The T20 will be followed by an ODI series with three games in Pune.
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