tilak varma world cup 2023 ashwin msk prasad wasim jaffer
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Ashwin’s stand was also supported by former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, who has no problem with Verma’s presence in the playing 15, provided Iyer doesn’t find a place in the team. The 20-year-old from Hyderabad has impressed with scores of 39, 50 and 49 not out in the opening three T20 Internationals against the West Indies. Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, ‘His claim regarding the World Cup is strong. Will they consider Tilak Verma as an alternative if we don’t have enough backup? Because Sanju Samson did very well in ODIs. But the exciting thing about Tilak Verma is that he is a left-handed batsman and Team India lacks left-handed batsmen. Jaddu is the only left-handed batsman in the top seven.
Star batsmen Lokesh Rahul (thigh surgery) and Iyer (back surgery) have not had enough time to be fit for the World Cup starting October 5. Suryakumar Yadav and Samson, who joined the team as backup, have also not been able to perform as expected at number four. Suryakumar has the backing of the team management and can find a place in the team as an additional option in the middle order.
Samson has missed a lot of chances and if Rahul is fit, Ishan Kishan will definitely be the second wicketkeeper and reserve opener. Ashwin’s reasoning for picking Verma was that most countries do not have good finger spinners who can trouble left-handed batsmen. He said, ‘Look at all the top team spinners. Australia has Ashton Agar. England have Mayan Ali and leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Most of the teams do not have a finger spin bowler to challenge the left arm batsmen. That is why Tilak is important.’
MSK Prasad, who headed the Indian selection committee during the last ODI World Cup, believes that a player like Verma is a capable ODI player. Prasad told PTI, ‘Look at his List A record for Hyderabad. He has played 25 List A matches and averages over 55 (56.18). He has scored five centuries and five half-centuries. This means that at least 50 percent of the times he is converting a half-century into a century. His strike rate is over 100. I think it is not a bad idea unless Shreyas makes it into the team. Only then you can think of Verma. But I am sure he will be a regular player for India in the white-ball format in future.
Former India Test opener Wasim Jaffer, who watched Verma’s stellar performance for Mumbai Indians from the Punjab Kings dug-out, has never seen a young batsman so confident in his first three innings. Speaking to ‘ESPNcricinfo’, Jaffer said that the time has come to make a decision as only nine matches are left before the start of the World Cup.
He said, ‘Ideally we would like the player to get 15 to 20 matches. We were hopeful that Shreyas and Rahul would be ready for the Asia Cup but we are reading that they will not be ready for the Asia Cup and we don’t know if they will be available for the ODIs against Australia because we don’t know what their condition is. How serious is the injury? If you want to test a player, why not Tilak Verma? Any player who plays will not be prepared enough, so why not Tilak Verma. I’ll bet on that.
Learn from Tilak Varma, Sanju… Secured a place in the very first series, won everyone’s heart with stormy batting
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