Hyderabad’s Tilak Varma gets maiden India call-up for T20I series against West Indies

The talented youngster has been in prime form during the last two Indian Premier League seasons playing for Mumbai Indians

Hyderabad: Hyderabad cricketer N Thakur Tilak Varma on Wednesday has been named in the Indian T20 side that will be led by all-rounder Hardik Pandya in the upcoming five-match T20 series against West Indies.

The talented youngster has been in prime form during the last two Indian Premier League seasons playing for Mumbai Indians. His consistent show with the Rohit Sharma-led five champions made a strong case for his inclusion in the team.

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The southpaw, playing in the middle-order, donned the role of a finisher with a strike-rate of 142-plus in 47 IPL and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games.

Meanwhile, two-format skipper Rohit and the Virat Kohli are unlikely to feature anytime soon in the Indian T20 team as they were once again left out of the 15-member squad. The side has a youthful look to it with the only player above 30 being world No.1 batter and team’s vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is set to make his Test debut next week, is also a part of the T20 squad after a stupendous IPL. While the emphasis for the next three months is on the 50-over World Cup and people privy to development would term it as being rested, it is certainly not a pattern in isolation that two pillars of Indian batting have not been a part of the last three T20 series (Sri Lanka, New Zealand), including this one.

Rinku Singh, who also caught the eyes in the recent IPL, however, failed to find a place. The team has both wicketkeepers Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson along with Avesh Khan and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Bishnoi, who last played for India in the Asia Cup in September, will be playing first-class cricket for Gujarat this season.

The team has three wrist spinners with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal also being part of the 15-member squad. Axar Patel, who going by current form is a better T20 bet compared to Ravindra Jadeja, has been picked in the squad.

India’s T20I squad: Hardik Pandya (C), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, N Thakur Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), , Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.