Varun Chakaravarthy ruled out of Afghanistan T20I, Asian Games availability in doubt

Indian spinner Varun Chakaravarthy was ruled out of the ongoing T20 series against Afghanistan on Monday due to a side strain, making him doubtful for the upcoming Asian Games.

Chakaravarthy has recently recovered from a hamstring injury sustained on the England tour in July. In the series opener against Afghanistan, which India won comfortably, he took the wicket conceding just 16 runs in his four overs.

“It is a fresh injury. MRI revealed it is a collateral strain. He is out of the series and looks unlikely for the Asian Games,” a BCCI source said.

The injury management at the Center of Excellence has come under the scanner Recently, players have been getting injured a lot. Chakaravarthy is another example of this trend.

The fresh injury makes Chakaravarthy very doubtful for the Asian Games, which begin on September 19. India will also play a historic T20 against Japan on September 22 before starting their Asian Games in Nisshin, Japan on September 28.

Before the India pacer series Harshit Rana did not recover in time for the Afghanistan and Asian Games series despite being in the original squad on condition of fitness. Yash Thakur was appointed as his successor.

Star paceman Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounders Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar have also recently recovered from injuries.

The second and third T20 against Afghanistan are being played here on Tuesday and Thursday.

– The end

Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

14 Sep 2026 19:16 IST