Former Indian chief selector MSK Prasad believes young Indian batter Tilak Varma could be a valuable addition to the Indian ODI team especially if Shreyas Iyer fails to recover for the ODI World Cup 2023 later this year. The 20-year-old has impressed everyone with his fearless batting approach in the T20 format.
Tilak Varma has grabbed the eyes of many experts and fans for his outstanding performance in the last three matches against the West Indies. The Hyderabad cricketer had scored his maiden fifty in the second T20I and was left stranded on 49* in the third T20I to finish things for India and helped the Men in Blue to stay alive in the 5-match series.
Speaking to the PTI, MSK Prasad is confident of Tilak Varma doing well in the ODI Cricket if provided an opportunity in the team as he has done exceptionally well for the Hyderabad team in the List A games where he averages more than fifty and feels that he could be the right option for the team India in the World Cup provided Shreyas Iyer not fit enough to play the marquee event later this year.
Look at his List A record for Hyderabad. He has played 25 List-A games and has an average of 55 plus. Five hundred and five half-centuries. It means at least 50 per cent times he is converting fifties into hundreds. A strike rate of 100 plus.”
“I think it won’t be a bad idea provided Shreyas (Iyer) can’t make it. Only then you can think of Varma. But I am sure he will be a white ball regular for India across formats going forward,” MSK Prasad said.
Tilak Varma made his T20I debut in the ongoing series between India and West Indies and the youngster has been the best batter for India in the series as he batted brilliantly on a wicket where most of the Indian batters struggled to get going in West Indies.
Team India Is Lacking Left-Handers – Ravichandran Ashwin on Tilak Varma’s Inclusion in ODI Team
Veteran Ravichandran Ashwin believes that the Indian team needs the left-hander batter in their top six to provide a perfect balance in the team for the forthcoming ODI World Cup in India. The Men in Blue does not have Left-hander in their top six in the ODI team.
“This is neck-and-neck concerning the World Cup. So, will they think about Tilak Varma as an option if we don’t have enough backups? Because Sanju Samson has performed well in ODIs. But the exciting part about Tilak Varma is that he is a left-hander and Team India is lacking left-handers. Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is the only left-handed batter in the top 7,” Ravichandran Ashwin said.
The batting order is filled with Right-handed batters with Ravindra Jadeja being the only Left-hander in the playing 11, Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Hardik Pandya have almost sealed their place in the playing 11 for the Asia Cup 2023, and ODI World Cup.