India vs England: Rahul Chahar likely to be added to the squad for T20I series

Mumbai Indians young leg break bowler Rahul Chahar can find a place for himself in India’s squad for the five-match T20I series against England, starting from March 12 at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. This decision by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) can be inspired by the fact that two other spinners named in India’s main squad, Rahul Tewatia, and Varun Chakravarthy have failed the fitness test and now won’t be considered for selection.

As per Cricbuzz, Chahar will be an easy pick for the Indian selectors considering he has been staying with the team in the bio-bubble since the commencement of the Test series against England. Chahar was one of the standby players for the Test series and including him can save BCCI from the headache of bringing in other players from outside and making arrangements for their quarantine. 

While the other standby players from the Test series including KS Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Priyank Panchal were released to feature in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Chahar stayed back and was also seen training with the Indian team during a practice session on Monday (March 8) evening.

The 21-year-old Rahul Chahar made his debut for India in the shortest format of the game in August 2019 against West Indies where he ended up picking 1 wicket at an economy of 9. Since then, Rahul is waiting for another call to the Indian team and has been delivering consistent performances in the domestic circuit and the Indian Premier League (IPL) while playing for MI.

Varun Chakravarthy asked to work on his fitness

A few days back it was reported that both Chakravarthy and Tewatia failed in the first fitness test conducted at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore last month while the results of their second test in Ahmedabad are unknown. While Tewatia is in bio-bubble and is practicing with the Indian team, Chakravarthy was asked to undergo training at NCA and improve his fitness standards.

Meanwhile, the Indian board has asked the selectors to conduct fitness tests for the domestic players who are in line to make their debut for the National team anytime soon in the future.