Off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has urged the national selectors and the team management to show faith in the talented Tilak Varma and include him in the World Cup squad as he could possibly be the answer to India’s middle-order woes.
Ashwin’s comments were also backed by former chief selector MSK Prasad, who wouldn’t mind seeing Varma in the final 15, provided Shreyas Iyer fails to make the cut.
The 20-year-old stylish Hyderabad left-hander has impressed with scores of 39, 50 and 49 not out in three T20I games in the West Indies and not for once has he looked out of place at the international level.
“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,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “But the exciting part about Tilak Varma is that he is a left-hander and Team India is lacking left-handers. Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is the only left-handed batter in the top 7.”
Ashwin gave his rationale behind picking Varma as he feels the other teams won’t have quality finger spinners. So he can be useful in the middle overs
“And look at the 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.”
