Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakravarthy in Team India playing 11: The Champions Trophy 2025 tournament is starting from February 19, but the journey of the Indian team will start from February 20 with a match against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium. Both the teams are busy preparing for this. Captain Rohit Sharma will have a great opportunity to win another ICC trophy this time, but for this he will have to make a strong strategy on every front. Especially regarding the playing 11 of the first match, his biggest dilemma will be that who should be selected as a specialist spinner between Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy.

How will be the playing 11 of the Indian team in the match to be played against Bangladesh, it will be known later. But the biggest question is who will get a chance between Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy. On the one hand, it is not easy for the batsmen to read the balls of mystery spinner Varun. On the other hand, Kuldeep has made a strong mark in ODI cricket with his brilliant performance. That is why, it will not be easy to ignore his experience.

Varun will have a chance to prove himself in ODIs as well

Varun Chakraborty got a chance to play against Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup. However, that match was forgettable for India, as Team India had to face a crushing defeat by 10 wickets. Varun had conceded 33 runs in 4 overs in that match and could not get any wicket. But after this he made a great comeback in the T20 format and troubled the opposition batsmen a lot with his mystery spin bowling. Recently, in the T20 series against England, England bowlers were completely bowled over by Varun's bowling. On the basis of this performance, he also got a place in the Champions Trophy team.

Now the question arises whether he will get a chance in ODI matches during an important tournament like the Champions Trophy? Varun has proved himself in T20 cricket, but he lacks experience in ODIs. He has played only one ODI so far and has taken one wicket in it. In such a situation, whether he will get a chance ahead of Kuldeep Yadav or not, it remains to be seen.

Underestimating Kuldeep Yadav would be the biggest mistake

The experience of Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav can prove to be very important for the Indian team in a big tournament like the Champions Trophy. He has played 108 ODIs so far and has taken 174 wickets. These figures prove that he is a big match player. If we talk about his performance against Bangladesh, Kuldeep has taken 5 wickets in 4 ODIs so far.

This match cannot be seen only as a clash with Bangladesh, but it should also be seen as a preparation for the big match against Pakistan. Kuldeep's record against Pakistan is excellent. He has taken 12 wickets in 6 ODIs against them so far. In such a situation, the big question before captain Rohit Sharma will be whether he should give priority to experience or include mystery spin.