Ravi Ashwin pitches Tilak Varma as backup for 2023 ODI World Cup: ‘His game resembles a lot like Rohit Sharma’ | Cricket News

With less than two months left in the 2023 ODI World Cup, India have quite a few questions to answer in terms of their final playing XI combination, including their middle order.
With both KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer yet to mark comebacks after having picked injuries earlier this summer, the men in blue haven’t been able to lock in on their batting order including the number four slot.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin though, believes that India’s latest batting sensation Tilak Varma – who made his debut in the ongoing T20I series against the West Indies and scored a maiden half century on Sunday – can be the answer to some of India’s problems.

A special fifty 👍
A special celebration for someone special from the Rohit Sharma family ☺️#TeamIndia | #WIvIND | @ImRo45 | @TilakV9 pic.twitter.com/G7knVbziNI
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 6, 2023
“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.

The southpaw is the leading run scorer for India in the five-match T20I series, having scored 39 and 51 off his two outings so far for the Hardik Pandya-led side.