Mumbai legend salutes Tilak Varma for starting India career with two sixes: 'That was a pretty 'Wow' debut'

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Tilak Varma became the third player to make his India debut on the West Indies tour on Thursday. The 20-year-old southpaw was handed his debut cap by Hardik Pandya ahead of the first India vs West Indies T20I at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.

The extremely talented youngster from Hyderabad even before coming to bat in the second innings. He took two stunning catches in the field to help Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya get rid of Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran respectively.

He walked in to bat with India two down for 28 in 4.5 overs and showed no nerves whatsoever as he whipped the very second delivery he faced for a six over fine leg. A startled Alzarri Joseph came fuming in on the next delivery but was dealt with another six from Varma who reminded fans of the flair of former India great Yuvraj Singh.

The Mumbai Indians (MI), who idolises Suresh Raina, did not at all look out of space during his 22-ball stay for 39 runs which included three sixes and two fours. He could not hit a fifty on debut but ended up as the leading run-scorer for the Men in Blue on an extremely slow surface which made batting very difficult.

While no specialist Team India batter could carry a strike rate in excess of 100, Varma showed his range and scored runs at a staggering strike rate of 177.27. Arshdeep Singh (13 off 11) had the second best strike rate of 171.43 for India, while Axar Patel was third at 118.18.

Cricket fraternity has heaped praises on Tilak Varma for his cracking entry in the Indian team. Former India and Mumbai batter Sanjay Manjrekar doffed his hat to him early morning on Friday.

"Tilak Verma. That was a pretty 'Wow’ debut. Exciting times ahead for India with this guy!" he tweeted.

India T20I captain Hardik also had words of praise for Varma after India lost the match by four runs. He said, former Under-19 star was going to do wonders for India.

"Not a bad way to start your international career with a couple of sixes. There's confidence and the fearlessness they have. They are going to do wonders for India," he said.

Here is how fans reacted to Tilak Varma's India debut.