Tilak Varma has impressed everyone in his debut series against West Indies. The youngster looked technically sound and showed the temperament required for the international stage. Both former Indian coach Ravi Shastri and the selector Sandeep Patil concurred that they would have the 20-year-old in their team for both Asia Cup and World Cup.
“100 per cent [if India should hand a debut to Tilak Varma?] I will go with Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. Who will be in the playing XI, can be decided after looking at the balance and the opposition. But Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav will both be in my team,” told Patil to Star Sports.
With the selectors moving on from Shikhar Dhawan India has only one left-hander in the top seven Ravindra Jadeja unless the team chooses to play Ishan Kishan in the middle order which is highly unlikely as he has been deployed only as a back opener thus far.
Addressing about the lack of a left-hander in the middle order Shastri said, “I’m very impressed with Tilak Varma. Very, very impressed. And I want a left-hander. So, if I’m looking for a left-hander in the middle order like Yuvraj Singh and before that was Suresh Raina at five, I would really look in that direction.”
“Sandy and MSK have been selectors, and if I was a selector along with my panel, I would be looking at that current form, looking at how he’s getting his runs. So, when I look at the way he has got his runs over the last three months,” he added.
Varma had an impressive 2023 IPL for Mumbai Indians batting down the order in difficult situations and scoring tough runs. In 11 outings he made 343 runs at an average of 42.88 and a strike rate of 164.11. Even on the international stage, he showed his composure when the tide was against him in the recently concluded five-match T20I series and shone amongst the other batters.
“Whether it was for Mumbai Indians, for India, whether it was handling pressure, opposition, or different situations of the game, he has ticked all the boxes for someone so young. When it comes to shot selection, when it comes to the range of shots, and the ability to be unorthodox, he has everything. So I’ll be looking at him very closely because he is hot at the moment, his mindset, his confidence, he understands situations, which is for me the most important thing,” Shastri said.
The Hyderbad-based player also has an impressive record in domestic cricket in the 50-over format. In 25 List A games he scored 1236 runs at an average of 56.18.
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