Woohoo. Where’s the party?

Tilak Varma, our prodigy, our star, our run-machine, has officially made it into the big league. After a super-impressive IPL 2023 where he amassed 343 runs at an average of nearly 43 and a strike-rate of 164.11, on the back of a very promising start in the 2022 season followed by a solid stint with India A, it was just a matter of time before he slammed the door down.

And thus, as Ajit Agarkar, the newly appointed head of the selection committee, sat down to pick a 15-man squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against the Windies starting on August 3, it was no surprise that our young 20-year-old southpaw made the cut. Ishan Kishan, our pocket dynamite who’s taken the team off to blazing starts, is also a part of the squad, and is set to don the opener’s hat.

“I am looking forward to the tour as it has been one of my dreams to playfor the country. Right now, I am focusing on the Duleep Trophyand just want to do well and win matches for my team. But, yeah, I am really looking forward to being part of the Indian team on the tour to the West Indies. It is a great opportunity to further my dreams," Tilak was quoted as saying by Times of India.

“Good performances in the domestic tournaments and the IPL does help a player in getting selected. IPL is a big tournament and doing well there definitely helped me. When I was injured, I was really thinking and focusing on the process. It was a grind as I kept the training and practice going. I didn’t lose my confidence as I was doing the basics right – practice and strength training etc. I was confident of doing well in any tournament and it helped me to go directly into the IPL and do well.

“My childhood dream is to win the World Cup for India and hopefully it comes true soon. But right now, my focus is on
the matches on hand like the Duleep Trophy and other games.”

In what is another moment of celebration for us Paltan, aapla dada Suryakumar Yadav has been named the vice-captain of the side. In the last one year, his rise in international cricket has been just stellar. This marks a new chapter, a chapter of responsibility and leadership. We truly couldn’t be more proud!

India's T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar