IND vs ENG: Varun Chakravarthy fails fitness test again, T Natarajan has shoulder niggle

Varun Chakravarthy

Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy's failure to clear fitness tests has ruled him out while pacer T Natarajan is racing against time to be battle-ready, making him doubtful for at least the early part of India's five-match T20 series against England starting here on Friday.

Chakravarthy has repeatedly failed to clear the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy at Bangalore while yorker specialist Natarajan is yet to join the squad here due to an apparent "shoulder niggle".

"Varun Chakravarthy was selected because he recovered from his shoulder injury that ruled him out of the Australia series. He did his rehab at the NCA and started throwing normally.

T Natarajan

"However, he has failed to clear the YoYo test mark stipulated for a 2km run at least twice," a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. The question now being asked is why did the Chetan Sharma-led committee select such a player, who hasn't played even one competitive game for his state Tamil Nadu since October.

"We can understand he was doing his rehab during Mushtaq Ali T20 championship. But then again, he didn't play a single Vijay Hazare Trophy game. How do you assess his match fitness based on games that he played five months back? I guess Varun Chakravarthy is a lesson for selectors," said the source.

"If a player is generally not maintaining the standards set by this Indian team, his bowling alone can't be a criteria for selection." It is learnt that Rahul Chahar will be inducted in the squad as he is already in the bio-bubble since the Test series. In case of Natarajan, the NCA medical staff is trying to get him fit for at least the later part of the series.

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