The Indian cricket team had to win the third Twenty20 International against the West Indies on Tuesday to keep the series alive, so they came out swinging.
The Indian cricket team knew they had to win Tuesday’s third Twenty20 International (T20I) against the West Indies if they wanted to keep the series alive, so they came out swinging. Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav, and Suryakumar Yadav all played key roles in India’s victory. As Varma smashed 49 not out off 37 balls and put together crucial partnerships with Suryakumar (83) and captain Hardik Pandya (20 not out), he became the center of attention. Varma has also excelled for the Mumbai Indians in Twenty20 Internationals. His aggressive batting against top bowlers has been praised.
Ravichandran Ashwin, another Indian player, has hinted that Varma might be part of India’s ODI World Cup backup plan. In terms of the World Cup, this is a dead heat. So, if we don’t have enough backups, will they consider Tilak Varma? Since Sanju Samson has excelled in one-day internationals. However, Tilak Varma’s interesting quality is that he is a left-hander, something Team India sorely needs. Ashwin stated on his YouTube channel, “Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is the only left-handed batter in the top 7.”
Pandya, too, recognizes Varma’s promise. When Varma was batting on 44 off 32 balls and India needed 12 off 23, Pandya was overheard giving him a confidence talk during the third T20I. You should khatam karna hai, ruana hai for Tereko in particular. Stay still until the end of the game (Gendo ka fark padta hai). Hardik Pandya was overheard saying into the stump mic, “The number of balls faced makes a difference.”
Less than two months remain till the start of the 50-over World Cup in India, and in that time, the opening pair of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan have risen to their highest ODI rankings to date. With his two-place jump, Gill is now tied for fifth place, just one place behind the Pakistani foursome of Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Imam-ul-Haq.
Even though Pakistan captain Babar is still much ahead, after an outstanding series against the West Indies, Gill climbed to a rating of 743 and is now within striking distance of both Zaman (755 rating points) and Imam-ul-Haq (745 rating points).
As a result of his performance against the West Indies, Hardik Pandya climbed 10 spots to 71st in the batting chart, while Kishan climbed nine spots to 36th.
