Tilak Varma surely has done plenty to show he’s one of the batters to look out for and could become an all-format player for India in the near future. Such has been Tilak’s initial impression that having made international debut last month, his name is already been suggested as a possible solution to the team’s middle-order concerns in case the first choice stars aren’t available during the ODI World Cup slated to be played in October-November.
Tilak made his debut during the West Indies T20I series and received a maiden ODI call up in India’s squad for the 2023 Asia Cup. His rapid rise though has concerned world cup winner Kris Srikkanth who has advised the team management to give him time and groom him properly for future events.
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“Do not give Tilak Varma debut in a big tournament, play him in the ODI series before that,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel Cheeky Cheeka.
“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,” he added.
Tilak, 20, has played seven T20Is so far and scored 174 runs in them including a half-century. He has an impressive List A record though, having scored 1236 runs in 25 matches at 56.18.
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BCCI chief of selector Ajit Agarkar had said the youngster has been picked to give him more exposure.
“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 is also a left-hander,” he had said during a media interaction.
Srikkanth is also worried about the fitness of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. The duo is returning following a significant injury layoff.
“I hope both Iyer and Rahul stay fit and play well. I seriously hope that and my only worry is that if they break down in the middle of the tournament,” Srikkanth said.
“I don’t have anything against anybody – this is not my team or your team this is the Indian cricket team. And we are playing here in India, we have a good chance to win, in Indian conditions all the players know the conditions well, but every one of those players has to be fit to play all the league games – can we guarantee that?” he added.
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