Abhishek Nayar has questioned Team India’s decision to send Tilak Verma ahead of Sanju Samson in the first T20I against Ireland. Paul Stirling and the team set the team India a target of 140 after being asked to bat first at Malahide, Dublin on Friday, 18 August. The visitors won by two wickets via the DLS method, despite losing Yashasvi Jaiswal. And just two balls before the match was called off due to rain, Verma’s wicket fell in successive deliveries.
During a discussion on JioCinema, Nair was asked about his thoughts on Verma being sent in at No.3 ahead of Samson to maintain the left-right combination, to which he replied:
“I am surprised with a lot of the decisions that are made. You have seen Tilak Varma do well at No. 4 and Sanju Samson is someone who has batted at No. 3. It shouldn’t matter whether he is right-handed or left-handed.”
The former Indian all-rounder added:
“You have got five left-handers in the team. You have a left-arm spinner in the opposition. Paul Stirling bowls a bit of off-spin and it doesn’t matter on this pitch because the ball isn’t turning. Let him bat at four. He is doing well. Don’t tinker with the batting order. Let him continue batting at four.”
In the recent T20I series against the West Indies, Tilak Verma has been in excellent form batting mainly at No.4. The Hyderabad youngster scored 173 runs in five innings at an impressive average of 57.67 and an equally impressive strike rate of 140.65.
Also Read: Aakash Chopra On Arshdeep Singh’s Slightly Disappointing Spell In 1st India vs Ireland T20I
Tilak Verma Will Definitely Be Disappointed but He Couldn’t Do Much” – Abhishek Nayar On His Dismissal
Abhishek Nayar was also asked about Tilak Varma’s dismissal, to which he replied:
“They tell you no matter how good a cricketer you are, you want the rub of the green. Here Tilak Varma would be disappointed for sure but he couldn’t have done much. As we say, this was an unlucky dismissal.”
The former Indian cricketer pointed out that the left-hander can only focus on playing the shot better than avoiding it. They said:
“You think that it will go for a four if you hit it. If you are sitting in as a coach, I am thinking that this is a four. You get out to that and you go back and think what you could have done differently – nothing. He will play the same shot, he will try to get a little more bat to it so that it goes for a four.”
Tilak Varma tried to pull Craig Young down the leg side but only got a narrow edge to Lorcan Tucker behind the stumps. It was the first time that he got out early in his six balls in international cricket.
