Varun Chakaravarthy made his debut for India in the shortest version of the game at the 2021 T20 World Cup, led by Virat Kohli. He made his ODI debut earlier this year, playing for Rohit Sharma as captain.
Chakaravarthy was unable to include Rohit and Kohli, who opened the batting for India during their successful T20 World Cup campaign last year, in his ideal T20 XI.
In an open discussion with Ravichandran Ashwin, Chakaravarthy was asked to list his all-time T20 starting lineup. Ashwin’s only requirement was that Chakaravarthy be able to list the players he has played with.
Chakaravarthy chose to open with Travis Head and Jos Buttler rather than Rohit-Kohli. Three Indian players were selected, including Suryakumar Yadav. At number three is the current Indian captain. The middle order is made up of Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, South African wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen, and former West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran.
West Indies players Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, who also offer company to Chakaravarthy internationally in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), were able to get a place in the bottom middle-order. The other spinner in the team together with Narine is Afghanistan T20 captain Rashid Khan.
When it comes to the fast-bowling unit, the Tamil Nadu spinner has selected the legendary Jasprit Bumrah and the mysterious Matheesha Pathirana.
Varun Chakravarthy’s Dream T20 XI: Jos Buttler, Travis Head, Suryakumar Yadav, Nicholas Pooran, Heinrich Klaasen, Hardik Pandya, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, and Matheesha Pathirana.
Chakaravarthy was instrumental to the Indian team in the 2025 Champions trophy. He claimed nine wickets in three matches at the average of 15.11 when India won the coveted trophy after 12-year-long drought. Chakaravarthy will come back into action in August when India would tour Bangladesh to play a three match ODI series which will be followed by other three T20Is.
