Ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup at home, Team India are sweating over the fitness of some of their key players like Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
While Bumrah will get a chance to prove his fitness in the upcoming T20I tour of Ireland later this month, there is no clarity over Rahul and Iyer’s recovery progress yet.
As a result, India experimented with their playing XI during the recently held three-match ODI series against West Indies. The team management rested star batters like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for the last two games and provided opportunities to Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav.
Amid the experimentation, veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has come up with a suggestion for chief selector Ajit Agarkar and the team management.
Ashwin pointed out that India don’t have many left-handed options in their batting line-up and young Tilak Varma’s inclusion can solve middle-order woes.
Tilak made his India debut in the first T20I against West Indies last week. He top scored for the team in the first two T20Is. While the southpaw made 39 off 22 balls in the series opener, he slammed his maiden T20I half-century (51 off 41 balls) in the second game.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin compared Varma with India skipper Rohit Sharma for his ability to play the pull shot effortlessly.
“The emergence of Tilak Varma has made everyone take notice of him. He looked in imperious touch even on that slow pitch in 1st T20I. His batting style is very unlike for an Indian making his his international debut. His game resembles a lot like Rohit Sharma. He sweats on the pull shot. Generally, India batters won't set up to play the pull shot. It is something they develop later. But his game looks like he has a natural pull shot and sends the ball outside the rope like an Aussie batter. Too early to call, but that knock was stupendous,” Ashwin said.
Ashwin feels that selectors might consider Tilak as an option given his left-handed ability. The ace off-spinner, however, admitted that Samson should be given the preference considering his impressive display in ODI cricket.
“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. But the exciting part about Tilak Varma is that he is a left-hander and Team India is lacking left-handers. Jaddu is the only left-handed batter in the top 7. And look at the off-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 remarked.
“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 further added.
