Rahul Chahar is likely to be added to India’s T20I squad after doubts remain over the fitness and availability of Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarthy. Chahar, who was one of the standby players during the Test series against England, has been in the Indian team bubble for some time and feels like the automatic choice. He was also part of the Indian contingent that had a practice session on Monday (March 8) evening.
While other standby players from the Test series, like K S Bharat, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal, had been released for the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, Chahar had stayed put with the team.
Chahar, 21, had a reasonably successful IPL 2020 for Mumbai Indians. He made his T20I debut for India in 2019 but has not played again since that match against West Indies in the Caribbean.
Like Chakravarthy, Tewatia also failed the first fitness test conducted at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore last month. The results from his second test in Ahmedabad isn’t known. Cricbuzz understands that Tewatia is also in quarantine in Ahmedabad along with the rest of the T20I squad and even trained with the Indian squad on Monday evening.
Chakravarthy, however, was not part of the training, and as report earlier by has been asked to check into the NCA to work on his fitness targets.
Fit players to be identified
The BCCI have asked the selectors to identify potential India prospects and send them for a fitness test in advance, Cricbuzz learns. The move follows after Chakravarthy and Tewatia, who were named in the T20I squad against England, failed their fitness tests.
Each of the selectors have been asked to identify players from their respective zones and send them for fitness assessments after consultation with colleagues. Only those who are able to prove their fitness will be considered for selection, the BCCI is understood to have advised the panel.
