The talented youngster has been at his best over the past two Indian Premier League seasons with the Mumbai Indians
Post Date – 12:36 AM, Thursday – July 6
Hyderabad: Hyderabad cricketer N Thakur Tilak Varma was nominated on Wednesday for the India T20 squad, which will be led by all-rounder Hardik Pandya for the upcoming five-match T20 series against West Indies game.
The talented youngster has been at his best over the past two Indian Premier League seasons with the Mumbai Indians. His steady performance of five titles led by Rohit Sharma provided a strong case for him to join the team.
The midfield left-hander played the finisher role with 142 overs in 47 IPL matches against the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Meanwhile, both format captains Rohit and Virat Kohli are unlikely to feature in India’s T20 squad anytime soon as they were once again left out of the 15-man squad. The team looked young, with the only player over 30 being the world’s No. 1 batsman and vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who will make his Test debut next week, is also part of the T20 squad after a stellar IPL campaign. While the next three months are focused on a 50-plus World Cup, what those with knowledge of the development call a break, this is certainly not an isolated pattern where the two pillars of Indian batting were not part of the last World Cup. Three T20 series (Sri Lanka, New Zealand), including this one.
Rinku Singh, who was equally high profile in the recent IPL, failed to find a place, though. The team has goalkeepers Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson, as well as Avesh Khan and spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Bishnoi, who last represented India in the Asian Cup in September, will play top-notch cricket for Gujarat this season.
The team consisted of 15 members including three wrist spinners including Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Axar Patel is a better T20 bet in his current form compared to Ravindra Jadeja, who has been picked into the line-up.
India T20I lineup: Hardik Pandya (middle), Ishan Kishan (week), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, N Thakur Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (week), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Sim Ge, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
