IND vs IRE: Ex-India Batsman Slams Team-Management For Tinkering With Tilak Varma's Batting Position After He Gets Out For Duck

Former Indian batsman, Abhishek Nayar, has slammed the Indian team management’s decision to tinker Tilak Varma’s batting position during the first T20I against Ireland on Friday (August 18). While Team India ended up winning the game, Tilak Varma failed to deliver with the bat.

Chasing a modest total of 140 runs, Team India was off to a good start. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad added 46 runs for the first wicket before the former departed after scoring 24 runs off 23 balls with the help of three fours and a six. The team-management then decided to promote Tilak Varma to number three although he had batted at number four against West Indies earlier this month in his debut series for India.

The move did not pay off as the 20-year-old was dismissed for a first-ball duck. And as Tilak Varma failed to perform in his new batting position, Abhishek Nayar did not shy away from criticizing the team management for the experiment.

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“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,” Nayar told JioCinema.

“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,” he added.

Fortunately for India, the wicket did not cost them the game as they won it by 2 runs (DLS method) after rain brought a premature end to the contest. India were on 47/2 in reply to Ireland’s 139/7 when rain arrived.

Impressive start for Tilak Varma in international cricket:

While Tilak Varma failed to do well with the bat in the first T20I against Ireland, he has made an impressive start in international cricket. The southpaw made his debut for India in the five-match series against West Indies and hit the ground running.

He opened his account in international cricket with two consecutive sixes and top-scored for the team in his first two games, scoring 39 and 51. The highly-rated batsman finished the series as the highest run-scorer for Team India and joint second overall. In 5 matches, he scored 173 runs.