IND vs ENG: Chakravarthy becomes second-oldest Indian to make ODI debut
Varun Chakaravarthy is only behind Farokh Engineer, who made his debut for India at the age of 36
 "IND vs ENG: Chakravarthy becomes second-oldest Indian to make ODI debut")
After Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harshit Rana made their debuts in the first ODI against England, India now have another debutant for the second ODI in Cuttack, as spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has been handed his maiden ODI cap ahead of the toss by Ravindra Jadeja. Varun, who has been exceptional with the ball in T20I cricket ever since he returned to the India team set-up, was added to India’s ODI squad just days before the first match. The 33-year-old is also the second-oldest player to make debut for India. Farokh Engineer, who made his debut for India at the age of 36, is still the oldest. Oldest players to make international debut for India
Best bowilng average in List A cricket (Min 50 wickets) Varun also holds the record for best bowling average in List A cricket for his impressive avegae of 14.13. Sri Lanka's Chanuka Dilshan is second in the list with an average of 14.91.
| Rank | Player | Age | Opponent | Venue | Year |
| 1 | Farokh Engineer | 36y 138d | England | Leeds | 1974 |
| 2 | Varun Chakravarthy | 33y 164d | England | Cuttack | 2025 |
| 3 | Ajit Wadekar | 33y 103d | England | Leeds | 1974 |
| 4 | Dilip Doshi | 32y 350d | Australia | Melbourne | 1980 |
| 5 | Syed Abid Ali | 32y 307d | England | Leeds | 1974 |
| Rank | Player | Bowling Average |
| 1 | Varun Chakravarthy | 14.13 |
| 2 | Chanuka Dilshan | 14.91 |
| 3 | Rajendra Dhanraj | 15.83 |
| 4 | Keith Boyce | 16.05 |
| 5 | Ali Khan | 16.1 |
Varun’s brilliant outing in T20I series vs England
Varun Chakaravarthy had a splendid outing against England in the recently concluded T20I series, which India won 4-1. Varun, in the five matches, took 14 wickets at an average of 9.68, with the best bowling figures of 5 for 24. He was named man of the series for his performance and was also nominated for the ICC player of the month award for January. Check India vs England 2nd ODI live score and match updates here
Rohit on Varun’s inclusion in ODI set-up
India skipper Rohit Sharma expressed his thoughts on Varun’s addition to the ODI set-up in a press conference before the 1st ODI, stating that the player had shown something different. While acknowledging that it was a T20 format, Sharma noted that the player clearly possessed a unique quality, which led the team to consider him as an option and explore how he could fit into their plans.
He further mentioned that the ongoing series provided an opportunity to test the player at some stage and evaluate his capabilities.