Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody on Monday hailed young Tilak Varma’s call-up to Team India for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023, calling it a “brave” and “smart” decision. On Monday, the BCCI’s All India Senior Selection Committee, headed by chief selector Ajit Agarkar, announced the 17-member squad for the continental showdown set to be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka beginning August 31.
Varma was included in the squad as the sixth specialised batter alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav. “I think it’s a wonderful selection. I’ll call it brave, but I also call it in the same breath smart,” Tom Moody told Star Sports.
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“He is clearly a player on the rise, as I touched on earlier. He’s got not only skill but an enormous temperament, and he is showing that on a regular basis.”
“We have talked about the value of left-handedness in the top order, so him coming in at that number five or six position is going to be valuable for India, particularly to have that balance against spin.”
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar also echoed Tom Moody’s views and credited Varma’s blazing form during the West Indies T20Is earlier this month in the Caribbean and the United States of America for his call-up in the ODI team.
“Look at his domestic career. He’s got the numbers to merit a call for India. And also, tongue in cheek, he is also getting ready for 50 overs cricket by failing in his last two matches in the T20 format. It is hard to find a weakness in him, in white ball cricket,” he said.
Besides Varma, Tom Moody was also impressed with the overall Indian squad selection for the tournament and felt there was no discrepancy behind the decisions. “Well firstly, what is looking good is the fitness, the tick that both KL Rahul and Iyer have received. You know both quality players, both really do give that middle order somebody and experience,” Moody said.
There were question marks over the fitness of Rahul and Iyer, who are making a comeback after undergoing thigh and back surgeries respectively. Iyer last played in March and Rahul in May. “I did enjoy the transparency and the honesty that came through in that press conference. I think communication is really important at times, whether it be in India or any other country for that matter,” he continued.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was a notable omission from the squad, leaving India with only one wrist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav. Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are the other spin bowling options. “I liked the fact that they made it very clear about the wrist spinning decision, why they only went for one wrist spinner and just small points around that,” he said.
“The little niggle that might have emerged with KL Rahul, just small things like that, you can’t help but get behind the new chairman and this team because you feel like you’re involved, you feel like you are part of the journey now instead of it being you’re unsure of exactly what is happening.”
