“All-format player for India pretty soon”: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma expects Tilak Varma to represent India across formats soon

Rohit Sharma expects Tilak Varma to play for India: The captain of Mumbai Indians is confident of their in-form batter progressing to the highest level.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has appreciated the ground staff for preparing a bowler-friendly pitch for the recently concluded 59th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium.

30.5 overs of play witnessed both the teams scoring a combined of 200/15 under testing conditions. With the surface conducive to swing bowling, both Chennai and Mumbai underwent top-order collapses against left-arm pacers in the powerplay.

“We have played a lot of cricket here [Wankhede Stadium]. On so many occasions, we’ve had pitches like this. It’s nice to get bowlers into the game as well at times. It’s been batting-friendly pitches all over. It was good to see bounce and swing from both sides which was good to watch,” Sharma told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.

It was due to the pitch that MI were reduced to 34/4 in the powerplay in a 98-run chase. Sharma admitted that top-order dismissals including himself resulted in “tense moments” in the dugout.

“Looking at how the pitch was playing and to lose wickets upfront, there were tense moments in the middle. It was just about keeping calm and getting the job done,” Sharma added.

Rohit Sharma expects Tilak Varma to represent India across formats soon

The calm which Sharma talked about was primarily provided by batter Tilak Varma. Coming in to bat at No. 4 after the skipper was dismissed in the fourth over, Varma scored 34* (32) with the help of four fours to play a titular role in guiding Mumbai to their third IPL 2022 victory.

In what wasn’t the most fluent of Varma’s innings, a responsible knock was enough to prevent a further batting collapse. Having scored 368 runs in 12 innings at an average and strike rate of 40.88 and 132.85 respectively, Varma has successfully converted his maiden IPL season into a breakout one by being the top-order for his team.

“He [Tilak Varma] has been brilliant, playing for the first year, having such a calm head is never easy. I feel he’s going to be an all-format player for India pretty soon. He’s got the technique and temperament. A lot of things are looking bright for him. And there’s hunger as well,” Sharma said of the 19-year old batter from Hyderabad.

A significant change to their Playing XI for this match had come in the form of vice-captain Kieron Pollard making way for debutant batter Tristan Stubbs. While the move didn’t work out like most of their moves this season, Sharma reiterated his views on the former West Indian captain volunteering to make way for a youngster.

“He’s been a stalwart for Mumbai. There’s no doubt about it. I said it at the toss as well. It was him who came out and spoke about he was okay with that because obviously we are looking at players. Had we been in a situation where we had a chance to qualify, probably this wouldn’t have happened,” Sharma concluded.