ICC World Cup 2023: Go With Tilak Varma And Suryakumar Yadav - Ex-Selector's Advice For India's Middle-Order Woes

The highly-anticipated ICC World Cup 2023 is not very far away. The thirteenth edition of the ODI World Cup is less than two months away but the Indian team is far from being a settled unit.

The major concern for Team India is the middle order. The middle order has been bothering the team for quite some time now. They faced the same issue during the last ODI World Cup too when Vijay Shankar was picked over Ambati Rayudu at the last moment and the move did not work out.

Recently, skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that Team India have not been able to find a reliable number four batsman since the legendary Yuvraj Singh’s retirement from the game. As the Men In Blue try to find the right balance for the all-important World Cup, former India allrounder and selector Sandeep Patil has given his views on how Team India could lineup in the tournament.

Sandeep Patil on Team India’s combination for World Cup:

Several former India stars recently spoke about the Indian team combination for the World Cup on Star Sports. Former allrounder and head coach Ravi Shastri said that if Ishan Kishan can play as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner, then the team can have Suryakumar Yadav as well as uncapped Tilak Varma in the middle order. And Sandeep Patil had a similar opinion.

“100 per cent [if India should hand a debut to Tilak Varma?]. I will go with Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. Who will be in the playing XI, can be decided after looking at the opposition,” said Sandeep Patil.

The selection of both Suryakumar and Varma would mean that there would be no backup wicketkeeper in the team. Speaking about that, Patil said: “I don’t think a backup keeper is necessary because the tournament will be at home. And if something happens to Ishan Kishan, fingers crossed, then we can get Sanju Samson overnight to any place.”

As of now, Ishan Kishan is the preferred wicketkeeper of the team in the absence of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. Rahul, however, is likely to return to action soon and could be the number-one wicketkeeper choice in the World Cup.