By Karan Agrawal 
Former Indian wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik feels that India has picked one spinner too many with the addition of Varun Chakarvarthy in place of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was added to the reserves before being ruled out due to an injury. The squad already had four experienced spinners in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav, and the inclusion of Varun Chakarvarthy takes the telly of spinners to five, with only four fast bowlers, including Hardik Pandya being part of the squad.
The Opinion
The inclusion of Varun Chakarvarthy at the expense of Yashasvi Jaiswal has made former players question the call since the final squad was announced on February 11. Former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had also questioned the need for a fifth spinner. “Five spinners in Dubai? I don’t know. I think we are one spinner too many, if not two,” he remarked. Following Ashwin’s remark about the selection, Dinesh Karthik has also expressed his opinion on the number of spinners in the Indian squad. “Five spinners, I personally feel, is a bit too much.”
The Gamble
“They could have done with four, I felt. And that’s where I do think it shows a little bit of, not confusion, which is probably a strong word, but not being very sure of what exactly to do because they announced a squad and then they added another spinner for an opener,” Karthik told Cricbuzz. Other than the inclusion of Varun Chakarvarthy, one of the highly debate topics was the inclusion of Harshit Rana in the Champions Trophy squad instead of experienced Mohammed Siraj following Jasprit Bumrah’s injury on which Karthik said, “Look, if you had to go with experience, then yes, Siraj could have been the ideal choice, but I thought Harshit bowled very well against England. What I feel is the Indian camp is very impressed with Harshit Rana. I think Harshit Rana was the debate, but I feel Team India backs him right now more than Siraj”.
India’s Squad For Champions Trophy
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.