‘I am sure he will be a white ball regular for India’ - MSK Prasad backs youngster Tilak Varma to excel in ODIs

Indian youngster Tilak Varma has well established himself as one of the biggest prospects in world cricket with his performances recently. The 20-year-old looked to be in the flow for Mumbai Indians in the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has impressed with his performances on his very first international outing against the West Indies.

Varma made his debut for team India in the ongoing T20I series against the West Indies and has been one of the best performers for the side. Having scored 139 runs in the three T20Is that he has played so far, the 20-year-old has been maintaining an average of 69.5 runs and might have solidified himself as one of the regulars for team India in the shortest format.

His brilliant performances in the T20I matches impressed former team India selector MSK Prasad. In the same vein, Prasad came forward to opine that Tilak Varma could become an integral cog in Team India in the ODI setup in the future. Prasad also highlighted that the 20-year-old has a fantastic A-list record, which could prove to be an integral factor.

At least 50 per cent times he is converting fifties into hundreds: Prasad

"Look at his List A record for Hyderabad. He has played 25 List A games and has an average of 55 plus. Five hundreds and five half-centuries. It means at least 50 per cent times he is converting fifties into hundreds. A strike rate of 100 plus," MSK Prasad was quoted as saying by PTI.

"I think it won’t be a bad idea provided Shreyas (Iyer) can’t make it. Only then you can think of Varma. But I am sure he will be a white ball regular for India across formats going forward," Prasad concluded.

Seeing Varma’s sensational knocks in the T20I series, there have been many rumours circling around that the 20-year-old could be seeing his name in the ODI lineup for India in the future. With the ODI World Cup 2023 and the Asia Cup looming around the corner, it could be interesting to see how the Indian lineup will fare.