Rohit Sharma reveals Rishabh Pant’s role in Yashasvi Jaiswal’s axing, Varun Chakravarthy’s inclusion in CT squad

India's mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy made the headlines when he decimated New Zealand's batting line-up in the last group stage match against New Zealand at Dubai. Chakravarthy proved to be unplayable for the Kiwis and turned out to be the game-changer.

However, Varun Chakravarthy wasn't even a part of India's preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy. But he was suddenly included in the squad ahead of the deadline. India's captain Rohit Sharma has finally opened up on the decision to include Chakravarthy in the squad.

The fact that the mystery spinner replaced the opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in the squad raised further questions on the team management's thought process. But Rohit explained how they thought of this masterstroke which is proving to be a game-changing decision now.

Also read: India to attack 'great' Australia with 4 spinners? Rohit Sharma makes big revelation

Rohit Sharma breaks silence on Varun Chakravarthy's inclusion

During a press conference ahead of India's semi-final against Australia, Rohit Sharma was asked about the sudden inclusion of Varun Chakravarthy in the squad. Rohit explained how the team management and the captain himself thought of including Varun by excluding a batter of Yashasvi Jaiswal's calibre.

The Indian skipper revealed that if India needed an extra batter, Jaiswal could be included quickly as he is already in the reserves. Rohit hailed Varun's capabilities and knew that he could play even without an injury.

“With Varun (Chakravarthy), especially, we felt we had to sacrifice a batsman, which we thought it's only five games in this tournament. And it's very unlikely that that batter is going to play at any stage, unless there's an injury," said Rohit.

"And you don't make team thinking the worst, which is someone getting injured. If somebody is injured, you can always call them upon. But with Varun, we knew that there is a chance that he might play without any injury in the team. I know there are four spinners and all of that, but we played four spinners today,” he explained.

Rishabh Pant's presence enabled India to go for Varun Chakravarthy - Rohit Sharma

Further elaborating on the topic, Rohit Sharma spoke about the deteriorating surfaces in Dubai since a lot of matches have been played here of late. He also revealed that Rishabh Pant was already in the team as a spare batter which convinced the team management to drop Jaiswal and include Chakravarthy.

“So, looking at the surfaces here, hearing about what has happened in Dubai in the past two months. There's a lot of cricket that has been played. So, we somehow kind of knew that the surfaces are going to be slow. We were watching ILT20, which was played here. And we thought the slower bowlers will be a lot more helpful," Rohit observed.

"And then we've got a batter sitting in the dugout anyway. And if we need a batter to come in, Rishabh (Pant) is there for us. So, we thought with an extra option of the spin, there's always a chance that we can play those guys. So that was pretty much the thinking behind that,” he added.

Varun Chakravarthy's match-winning performance

Varun Chakravarthy finished with superb figures of 5-42 in 10 overs in the final group stage match against New Zealand in Dubai. The mystery spinner proved to be the difference between the two teams and helped India win the match.

He came into the Playing XI after the team management decided to rest Harshit Rana. However, he will be hard to drop after such an impressive performance and is likely to feature in the semi-final against Australia as well.