Tilak Varma set to represent Hampshire in County Championship

Indian batter Tilak Varma is set to represent Hampshire in the ongoing County season. According to a press release shared by the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) on Wednesday, June 11, the 22-year-old, who has played four ODIs and 25 T20Is for the Indian team so far, has been approached by Hampshire to play in the County Championship Division One tournament.

Interestingly, Varma's last appearance in a red-ball fixture was for Mayank Agarwal-led India A against India C in the Duleep Trophy at Anantapur from September 19 to 22 in 2024.

“The Hyderabad Cricket Association is happy to inform that Hyderabad International player Mr. N Thakur Tilak Varma has been approached by the team Hampshire County to play in the UK County Championship League. The Hyderabad Cricket Association wishes him a great stint with Hampshire County," HCA said in a release.

Varma, who was last seen in action for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2025, has played 18 first-class matches so far, aggregating 1204 runs with the help of five centuries and four fifties. The southpaw has an average of 50.16 in the red-ball format. Besides being a gun fielder, Varma is a handy off-spinner, with eight wickets at an average of 12.87 and strike rate of 24.10.

Hampshire have played seven matches in the ongoing County Championship Division One and have managed to secure two wins in addition to playing three draws and losing a couple of matches. The Southampton-based team were handed a nine-wicket defeat by table toppers Sussex in the last match they played, which was at The Rose Bowl from May 23 to 26. Ben Brown-led Hampshire's upcoming encounter in the red-ball arena is against Essex at the County Ground in Chelmsford from June 22 to 25.