Former Indian cricketer, Wasim Jaffer, has voiced his support for including the promising 20-year-old Tilak Varma in India’s squad for the ODI World Cup 2023, proposing his selection over Suryakumar Yadav. Jaffer’s endorsement of Varma comes as a result of Suryakumar Yadav’s recent struggles to shine consistently in the Indian cricket team.
Tilak Varma made an impressive debut for the Indian cricket team during the West Indies series, showcasing his remarkable skills on the field. In contrast, Suryakumar Yadav has faced criticism from numerous cricket pundits for his inconsistent performances in the 50-over format. During the Caribbean series, Yadav himself acknowledged his unimpressive ODI statistics and expressed his commitment to improving them.
In a conversation with ESPNcricinfo, Wasim Jaffer acknowledged the difficulty of choosing between Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. However, he leaned towards Tilak Varma’s inclusion, despite the youngster’s limited experience in 50-over matches for India. Jaffer justified his choice by citing Varma’s batting style, which he believes is better suited for ODI cricket.
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Given Suryakumar’s ongoing struggle to find his rhythm in one-day cricket and his subpar performance in the 50-over format, Jaffer argued that it might be prudent to exclude him from the squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup.
Jaffer stated, “I will probably take out Prasidh Krishna, and it would be a tough choice between Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. I’ll pick Tilak Varma even though he has not played ODI cricket at all for India. But looking at how he bats and plays his cricket, I think he is more suited to one-day cricket. Suryakumar does have a lot of promise, and he has not cracked the code of ODI cricket despite getting a lot of opportunities.”
Both Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav are currently part of the India squad for the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka. But, neither Tilak Varma nor Suryakumar Yadav featured in India’s playing 11 for the first and second matches of the tournament against Pakistan and Nepal, respectively.