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BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar lifts lid over Tilak Varma's maiden ODI call-up in India's Asia Cup squad
BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar later lifted the lid over the surprising pick as he explained the thought behind Tilak's selection.
Imagine being so good that a matter of just four innings, in the T20I format, earns you a maiden ODI call-up for a tournament as big as the Asia Cup and subsequently puts you in contention for the 2023 ODI World Cup as well. That has basically been what Tilak Varma experienced in the last few weeks. Beating some of the experienced options and in absence of variety in the batting line-up, Tilak made his way into the 17-member squad on Monday for the continental event which begins from August 30 onwards. BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar later lifted the lid over the surprising pick as he explained the thought behind Tilak's selection.
Tilak was far from being even remotely considered as fringe option for the Asia Cup or the World Cup. In fact, even until the start of this month, he never even played for India. He was a promising star indeed having dominated IPL in the last two seasons where he emerged as a mainstay middle-order batter for Mumbai Indians, which even led to his T20I call-up for the West Indies tour. But all changed in a matter just a few weeks.
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On the struggling Windies conditions, where most India batters failed to read the pitch, young Tilak stood tall and eventually emerged as the only positive for the touring side in their humiliating 2-3 defeat in the T20I contest. The 20-year-old scored 173 runs in four innings with a fifty and an unbeaten 49, which seemed enough leave world cricket, including legends like Ravi Shastri, impressed, as they called for the Asia Cup selection.
And on Monday, the youngster, who is presently part of the T20I series in Ireland, emerged as the most notable picks for the tournament. Speaking to the press, Agarkar explained his selection saying: “Tilak Varma is promising. Asia Cup is a big opportunity for him. We saw some real promise not only in terms of performances but also temperament during the T20I series against West Indies. This will give him exposure. He is also a left-hander."
How did Tilak Varma, with no ODI experience, get picked for Asia Cup?
Last week in a conversation with Jio Cinema, former India selector Saba Karim was asked about Tilak emerging a favourite to be picked in the Adia Cup based on his show in T20I format while Suryakumar Yadav, who is the No. 1 ranked T20I batter, has struggled to crack ODI cricket, and he replied explaining that in such cases selectors always takes into account a player's domestic performance in the format.
In 25 List A appearances, Tilak has scored 1236 runs at 56.18 with five centuries and as many fifties. He also has picked eight wickets in 11 innings with a best figure of 4 for 23.
"We often forget that players, whether Suryakumar or Tilak, do put in performances in domestic cricket in the one-day format for a long time. And if a player has performed well in the domestic circuit in the format, but doesn't have the experience on an international level, although has put in good scores in T20I cricket then they do have the attention of the selectors. So both these factors are taken into consideration. But if they only look at performances in T20 cricket and IPL to pick a player for the ODI team, then that is wrong," Karim had sadi.
