IPL Success May Open International Doors for Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana

A successful IPL season does not guarantee a spot in the international cricket team. There are too many candidates for the available spots.

The storyline, though, might be different for Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana, two important players for the Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL 2024 winners.

With 21 scalps, leg-spinner Chakravarthy emerged as the Knight Riders' leading wicket-taker and second-highest overall. With 19 wickets, pacer Harshit also had a good Powerplay and late-inning performance. They appear to have done enough to get the attention of the national selectors.

Team India will tour Zimbabwe for the five-match T20I series from July 6–14, following the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States. After that, they will go to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and as many T20Is. In the unlikely event that selectors decide to rest some of the first XI regulars following a demanding T20 Cup campaign, Chakravarthy and Harshit have a strong possibility of being taken into consideration.

But Chakravarthy has previously represented India in six Twenty20 Internationals.

Nevertheless, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel will also consider their performance for their respective state teams during the most recent domestic season.

Of course, Varun and Harshit's bowling in this year's IPL has impressed the national selectors. They might be taken into consideration for these two trips based on their performance, a BCCI representative informed The Telegraph on Monday. "That being said, performance in the IPL is not the only criterion; they will also be evaluated based on how they performed for their state teams."

In four outings for Tamil Nadu in the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, Chakravarthy claimed six wickets at an economy rate of 6.62, while Harshit claimed three wickets from four games for Delhi. He had an economy rate of 8.23. They performed better in the national one-dayers (Vijay Hazare Trophy) last season, with Harshit collecting 10 wickets at 5.45 runs per over from five matches and Chakravarthy grabbing 19 wickets from eight games (with an economy rate of 4.27).

Next month, at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, Chakravarthy, Harshit, and even the other quick from KKR, Vaibhav Arora, could be called up for "fitness tests and preparations".

Arora finished with 11 wickets from 10 matches, providing good support for Mitchell Starc and Harshit. In Sunday's final in Chennai, Arora dismissed Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Travis Head with a beauty.

Rinku's conviction

Rinku Singh, a middle-order batsman for KKR and one of Team India's reserves for the T20 championship match next month, thinks he will win the World Cup as well. "I'm first going to Noida, and after that, I'm going to the US. Watch this, guys—I'm going to lift the World Cup too," Rinku said to JioCinema.

Rinku commented, "You can't credit just one person because everyone has worked hard," in reference to KKR's victory. Many things have changed since GG (Gautam Gambhir) Sir arrived."

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.