Ace India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin suggested that Tilak Varma is an option for India in the middle-order for the ODI World Cup 2023. Tilak made a sensational start to his international career with impressive batting in the first three T20Is against West Indies. The southpaw displayed great temperament in the middle-order on his debut series as he scored a fine half-century in 2nd T20I and followed it up with a fine 49*-run knock in the third T20i to guide India to a crucial win.
There is still uncertainty over Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul’s fitness as India need to find suitable options for the upcoming Asia Cup and ODI World Cup.
Ashwin’s comments were also backed by former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, who wouldn’t mind seeing Varma in the final 15, provided Shreyas Iyer fails to make the cut.
“This is neck-and-neck with respect to 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 really well in ODIs,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“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.”
In recent times, India have used Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson in the middle-order to fill in the shoes of Rahul and Iyer but they have yet to finalise the team combination. Surya failed to replace his T20I form in the 50-over format, while Samson lacked consistency,
If Rahul failed to make the cut then Ishan Kishan is leading the race for the wicketkeeping option at the moment as he will also be a backup opening option.
Ashwin gave his rationale behind picking Varma as he feels the top cricket-playing nations won’t have quality finger spinners who can trouble a rookie.
“And look at the spinners from all the top teams. Australia have Ashton Agar. England have Moeen Ali and a leggie in Adil Rashid. So, most teams don’t have a finger spinner to challenge the left-handed batters. That is why the emergence of Tilak is crucial.”
Ashwin knows that it could be difficult to fast-track Varma but there is no harm in giving him a chance, especially after his ongoing exploits in the Caribbean.
“It is still early but will they see him as an option? He has at least made everyone notice him. He is surely in the contingency plan. Because any selector who would have seen that knock would have gone, ‘Woah!'” he said.
Prasad, who was the head of the selection panel during the last ODI World Cup, feels that someone like Varma is an equally capable ODI player.
“Look at his List A record for Hyderabad. He has played 25 List A games and has an average of 55 plus (56.18). Five hundreds and five half-centuries. It means at least 50 per cent times he is converting fifties into hundreds. A strike rate of 100 plus,” Prasad told PTI.
“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,” the former India stumper added.
Former India Test opener Jaffer, who has seen Varma’s exploits for Mumbai Indians while sitting in the Punjab Kings dug-out, has never seen any young batter look “so assured in his first three innings.”
Talking to ESPNCricinfo, Jaffer admitted that definitely time is of essence since only nine games are left before the World Cup starts.
“Ideally, you would want a player to get 15 to 20 games. We expected Shreyas and KL to be ready for Asia Cup but we are reading they won’t be ready for Asia Cup and we don’t know if they would be available for Australia ODIs as we don’t know how serious are those injuries.
“If you want to try a guy, why not Tilak Varma? No matter whoever plays, he would be under-cooked, so why not Tilak Varma? I would take a bet on him,” Jaffer said.