REDEMPTION ARC COMPLETE FOR VARUN

The 33-year-old spinner, despite coming late to the party, has become the star performer

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN @Chennai

MINUTES after India had whitewashed England 3-0 in the ODI series last month, Gautam Gambhir had opened the door for Varun Chakravarthy to play a big part in the country's Champions Trophy campaign.

"We," Gambhir had said after the series in Ahmedabad, "wanted another wicket-taking option in the middle-overs. We know that Varun can be a massive threat. And with a lot of teams who haven't played him, he could be an x-factor as well. I'm not going to say that he's going to start and all that stuff, but it's always good to have a strong bowling line-up."

If India, like the other teams in the group, had played a few games in Pakistan it's likely the management would have had to pick Yashasvi Jaiswal or another pacer at the expense of Chakravarthy. But once they knew they needn't legislate for multiple conditions, they picked one of the biggest wildcards in their arsenal. In isolation, the 33-year-old, with an experience of one ODI match under his belt when the tournament began, was, at best, a wild gamble. But they went with their instincts.