• Source:JND
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Since making his debut in the first T20I against West Indies, the middle-order batter Tilak Varma has impressed one and all with his clear hitting and fearless batting approach in limited-overs cricket. He scored 39 on his India debut and scored his maiden international fifty in the next game. In two T20Is so far, the left-handed batter scored 90 runs and looks very confident when he steps out to bat in the middle.

With less than 60 days left for the ODI World Cup, Men in Blue have not finalised their squad for the showpiece event and such performances will get noticed before the selectors take a final call.

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said that Men in Blue's batting order is dominated by right-handed batters and Tilak's inclusion will give the home side edge on off spinners.

“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 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,” Ashwin said in his recent YouTube video.

“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,” he further added.


Varma will in action in the third T20I of the five match series against West Indies on Tuesday, August 8. West Indies lead the series 2-0 after winning the second T20I by two wickets on Sunday.