IPL 2023: 'India player already' - Ravi Shastri's massive comment on Mumbai Indians star Tilak Varma

Add as a preferred source on Google

IPL 2023: Former India coach Ravi Shastri has said that he would be surprised if Mumbai Indians star Tilak Varma does not represent India in T20I cricket in the next six to eight months period. The statement from Shastri came after Tilak scored 29-ball 41 against Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old batter has carried his form from the previous season and emerged as the stand out performer for the five-time champions in their first three matches. In his first outing against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Tilak scored 84 unbeaten runs off 46 balls to rescue MI from 48/4 to 171/7 in 20 overs.

Praising the Hyderabad-born cricketer, Shastri said that he would be a brilliant addition to Team India middle-order. He added that the maturity Tilak has shown is a good news for Mumbai as well as the Indian cricket team.

"India player already. This guy is an Indian player and I would be very surprised if he does not play T20 cricket for India in the next six months or eight months. He has got the maturity, he has got the flare. He will make a world of difference to the Indian middle order," Ravi Shastri said while speaking on Star Sports.

"He is just 20 years of age, the kind of maturity he is showing, is someone who is much older than that. It is very positive, not only from the Mumbai point of view but from the India point of view as well," Shastri added.

Tilak is current the sixth highest run-scorer in the IPL 2023. He has scored 147 runs in three matches at an average of 73.50 and a strike rate of 158.06. Currently, the southpaw is the only batter from his team to score over 100 runs in the ongoing tournament.

In the IPL 2022, he scored 397 runs in 14 matches at an average of 36.09 and a strike rate of 131.02. Only Ishan Kishan (418) scored more runs than him in the season.