Duleep Trophy 2023: Tilak Varma's steady 46 helps South Zone get close to North Zone's first innings total

Tilak Varma, star of Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, earned his maiden Indian call-up for the upcoming West Indies (WI) T20I tour. The left-handed batter is currently playing in the Duleep Trophy 2023 for South Zone (SZ) in the semi-final game against the North Zone, and his 46-run knock in 101 balls helped his team to nearly cover the opposition's first innings lead. 

North Zone rode on Prabhsimran Singh's 49-run knock and got to a total of 198 runs in the first innings. Vidwath Kaverappa breathed fire as he picked up a five-wicket haul to put an end to the opposition's innings early. In reply, Mayank Agarwal notched up 76 runs in 115 but rest of the batters failed to put up a show. It was Tilak Varma, who played a composed knock of a 101-ball 46 before Vaibhav Arora dismissed him. 

South Zone's innings ended when Jayant Yadav dismissed Sai Kishore, the last standing batter, and closed their innings on 195 in 54.4 overs.

Tilak Varma gets rewarded with maiden international call-up

The two stellar performers of IPL 2023, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Varma have been rewarded for their performance in the cash-rich league. The 21-year-old, in 11 matches for Mumbai Indians, scored 343 runs at a strike rate of over 164. The youngster's selection was made possible after seniors like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were rested for the series as Hardik Pandya will be leading a young squad. 

It is worth mentioning that this team has been selected by the Ajit Agarkar-led senior men’s selection committe. Another notable change that was seen in the squad was Suryakumar Yadav being named Pandya's deputy for the five-match T20I series, starting on August 3 at Tauroba. 

The Men in Blue, after their failed campaign in the 2022 T20 World Cup, are surely experimenting with different positions in the squad. In the absence of senior players in the five T20Is in the Caribbean, Suryakumar has got the opportunity and he will surely be looking to impress the selectors. 

Although the Men in Blue, in the last 20-over format series against New Zealand, were victorious under Hardik's leadership, seven members from the last series are missing in this tour. Surely it is an indication that the Indian team is looking for future stars in their squad, and are in an early hunt for the ICC T20I World Cup in 2024.