Australia legend Matthew Hayden on Monday (August 21) backed young batters Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma to deliver for India after they were picked in the squad for the Asia Cup 2023, starting August 30.
After his record-breaking exploits in the IPL 2023 season, Gill underwent a lean patch during the tour of West Indies, scoring just two fifties from 11 innings across three formats.
On the other hand, Tilak left a mark in his debut T20I series in the Caribbean, registering scores of 39, 51*, 49*, 7* and 27. His brilliance resulted in him receiving a maiden call-up to the India ODI side.
“(It) is this extreme talent, especially within the batting sense, that brings India to life. Gill hasn’t played a lot of one-day cricket for his country yet. Tilak Varma hasn’t played a game of one-day cricket for his country. But that doesn’t mean they’re not able to deliver.
“And this is what we’ve seen in the IPL. We’ve seen names which otherwise you’d have absolutely zero idea of, come to the IPL, not an international stage but certainly an international event, and set it alight. So, I feel very confident in the fact that Indian cricket is in good hands,” Hayden told media on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Award.
Hayden mentioned the strong character of India’s middle-order to put forward his point.
“When you look at India’s middle-order, you look at Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma… those 3-4 players, and Rohit Sharma described it best. He said ‘you can look at anyone at those numbers but ultimately it’s not one of them that wins you the World Cup,” he stated.
In India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad, there was a noteworthy omission as wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal failed to make the cut.
Commenting on Chahal’s snub, the former Australia opener said: “There’re some big omissions. Chahal in particular, that leg-spinner is such a superb player and (it) must be tough for the selectors because they’ve also got another one in Kuldeep (Yadav)…. he’s a superb player. So, they’ve gone for that as an option.”
Hayden also opined that the presence of Tilak Varma in the squad will put pressure on Suryakumar Yadav, who is yet to establish himself in the Indian ODI team.
“In the lead up to World Cups, you’re always going to have some players and we’ve seen the class of Tilak Varma. I think it’s a good strategy in terms of not just this World Cup but even potentially getting into the next World Cup (T20 World Cup 2024) as well,” Hayden said.
“The great thing about Team India is that it has got a really solid 1-2-3 combination, similar to Australia. When you look at their last four or five months, they’ve had a really strong engine room,” he added.
“They’ve got some good problems to solve through the middle-order. If they can fill spots with talented young players like Tilak Varma, it can put pressure on someone like Suryakumar Yadav — I think that’s a good strategy; keep everyone honest in the side and performing, so not a bad move,” he continued.
(With PTI Inputs)
