Ricky Ponting reveals India’s ‘huge impact’ player in Champions Trophy 2025

Former Australian skipper and commentator Ricky Ponting feels Varun Chakravarthy is expected to have a ‘huge impact’ in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to start on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai.

The mystery spinner, who represents Tamil Nadu in domestic cricket, replaced Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in the squad for the eight-team showpiece event. Ponting feels Varun can rattle the opposition with his variations and skill.

Notably, the Indian squad for Champions Trophy 2025 has five spinners namely Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy. With Varun’s addition, the Indian team has a strong spin bowling unit.

“I think (Varun) Chakravarthy can have a huge impact on the tournament as well for India He’s probably pretty much through his career been pigeonholed as a T20 bowler only, but he’s just with what he can do and his variations and his skill, I think he can have a huge impact on the Champions Trophy,” Ricky Ponting told in the ICC Review.

Interestingly, Varun has an experience of playing in the UAE, having featured in the T20 World Cup in 2022. In the recently concluded T20I series against England, Varun emerged as the leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets from five matches. 

While Rohit Sharma will continue to lead the ODI squad, Shubman Gill is appointed his deputy for the showpiece event. Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Hardik Pandya form the pace battery in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence.

India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy, 2025: 

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Non Travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube.

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at Sky365 and click here to start betting today!