Tilak Varma’s inclusion was one of the highlights of India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad announced by the BCCI men's selection committee on Monday (August 21).
The southpaw made his India debut during the T20I series against West Indies earlier this month. He instantly left a mark with his consistency and maturity, registering scores of 39, 51*, 49*, 7* and 27 from five innings.
Varma’s brilliance in the shortest format resulted in him receiving a maiden call-up to the India ODI side.
Reflecting on India’s Asia Cup squad, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody described Tilak Varma’s selection as a “brave” and a “smart” move.
“I think it’s a wonderful selection. I’ll call it brave, but I also call it in the same breath smart,” Moody told Star Sports.
“He is clearly a player on the rise, as I touched on earlier. He’s got not only skill but an enormous temperament, and he is showing that on a regular basis.”
“We have talked about the value of left-handedness in the top order, so him coming in at that number five or six position is going to be valuable for India, particularly to have that balance against spin,” he added.
Apart from his recent T20I exploits, Tilak Varma has also done well in List A cricket, amassing 1236 runs from 25 matches at an average of 56.18 with five hundreds and as many half-centuries.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar also echoed Moody’s views on Varma and said: “Look at his domestic career. He’s got the numbers to merit a call for India. And also, tongue in cheek, he is also getting ready for 50 overs cricket by failing in his last two matches in the T20 format. It is hard to find a weakness in him, in white-ball cricket.”
Tom Moody was also impressed with the overall Indian squad selection for the upcoming Asia Cup, slated to be held in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
“Well firstly, what is looking good is the fitness, the tick that both KL Rahul and Iyer have received. You know both quality players, both really do give that middle order somebody and experience,” Moody said.
“I did enjoy the transparency and the honesty that came through in that press conference. I think communication is really important at times, whether it be in India or any other country for that matter,” he remarked.
In India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad, there was a noteworthy exclusion as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal failed to make the cut.
“I liked the fact that they made it very clear about the wrist spinning decision, why they only went for one wrist spinner and just small points around that,” Moody said.
“The little niggle that might have emerged with KL Rahul, just small things like that, you can’t help but get behind the new chairman and this team because you feel like you’re involved, you feel like you are part of the journey now instead of it being you’re unsure of exactly what is happening.”
(With PTI Inputs)
