IND vs ENG: Varun Chakaravarthy becomes second oldest Indian to make ODI debut, check who's the oldest

IND vs ENG: Varun Chakaravarthy becomes second oldest Indian to make ODI debut (BCCI Photo)

Varun Chakaravarthy created a unique record as he is all set to play his first ODI for India. The mystery spinner, who bamboozled England in the T20Is, was a late minute addition to the India squad in the 50-over format. He replaced Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI.

The feat makes Chakravarthy the oldest debutant for India outside of their inaugural match in the ODI format in 1974. In fact if we look at the overall tally, he is the second oldest after Farookh Engineer to make his debut in ODIs.

Farookh made his debut at 36 years and 138 days against England at Leeds in 1974, while Chakaravarthy is 33 years and 164 days old.

Oldest ODI debutants for India

36y 138d Farookh Engineer vs Eng Leeds 1974
33y 164d Varun Chakravarthy vs Eng Cuttack 2025 *
33y 103d Ajit Wadekar vs Eng Leeds 1974
32y 350d Dilip Doshi vs Aus Melbourne 1980
32y 307d Syed Abid Ali vs Eng Leeds 1974

Chakaravarthy got his cap from Ravindra Jadeja and will look to carry forward his impressive form. The English batters found him difficult to read in the T20Is, and he will once again pose a threat. Chakaravarthy scalped 14 wickets in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against England, which India won 4-1. His impressive performance also included a five-wicket haul in Rajkot. He was named the player of the series for his stellar show.

The spinner has shown significant improvement since returning to international cricket after a gap of three years, which was the T20Is against Bangladesh last October. He has since finished as India's leading wicket-taker in the three T20I series (Bangladesh, South Africa and England), which he has been a part of.

Chakravarthy also registered 18 wickets for Tamil Nadu in the National One Day Championship. In fact if we look at the best average among bowlers with 50-plus scalps in List A cricket, Chakaravarthy stands at top.

Best bowling average in List A cricket (50+ wickets)

14.13 Varun Chakravarthy *
14.91 Chanuka Dilshan
15.83 Rajendra Dhanraj
16.05 Keith Boyce16.10 Ali Khan