Many eyebrows were raised when the 20-year-old Tilak Varma was picked in the squad for Asia Cup 2023. Though he impressed with his temperament at the international level in the T20I series against West Indies he is yet to make his ODI debut.
“Do not give Tilak Varma a debut in a big tournament, play him in the ODI series before that,” told Krishnamachari Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.
“Tilak Varma is promising. Asia Cup is a big opportunity for him. We saw some real promise not only in terms of performances but also temperament during the T20I series against West Indies. This will give him exposure,” he added.
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. “He is also a left-hander,” the former Indian selector would say.
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.
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.
“Tilak has fantastic potential, a brilliant player — but he has to play a couple of one-day series before putting him in the WC squad. We need to groom him properly,” Srikkanth concluded.
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