New Delhi (TIP)- Tilak Varma’s surgery has dropped an uncomfortable question into India’s T20 World Cup build-up: What if he can’t medically be cleared in time, and who then could be his replacement? Reports quoting a BCCI official claim that Tilak reported acute pain in Rajkot while with the Hyderabad team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, was diagnosed with testicular torsion, and underwent successful surgery.
The issue isn’t only that India loses a left-handed batter in the top three for the series against New Zealand. If Tilak’s recovery is delayed, it may force India to make a last-minute change to the squad for the marquee tournament.
Who can replace Tilak Varma and why?
The most sensible argument for replacing Tilak Varma should be a ready-made top middle-order batter who can handle pressure and allow India to keep their existing batting plan intact. In that brief, Shreyas Iyer fits the best. Tilak’s strongest value is how he keeps India functional in the overs 7-15, the phase that decides most T20s, when teams throw matchups, and boundary riders at you. The replacement India pick must be comfortable living in that phase, not just visiting it. Shreyas Iyer is naturally a No.3/ 4 operator, someone who has built his career around reading fields, managing spin-heavy stretches, and then shifting gears. Even if he doesn’t replicate Tilak’s handedness, he replicates a far more important thing: a top-four batter who can keep the innings from stalling in the middle overs.
Iyer’s inclusion avoids the extra opener trap
Several alternative names being floated in the ecosystem are top-order specialists, excellent players, but often openers by design. The issue with picking a specialist opener as a squad replacement in this case is simple: it quietly pushes India into an unwanted reshuffle. Someone must move, roles change, and suddenly the replacement becomes the centre of the batting order. Iyer does the opposite. He allows India to keep their template intact because he is already shaped for the same functional lane Tilak occupies: a top-four responsibility with middle-overs weight. That reduces decision-making friction in-game, which is what teams strive for in World Cups.
Form and readiness without role confusion
If India has to make a late squad switch, they will prefer a player who walks in with clarity. Iyer ticks that box, and he has recent, tangible evidence of rhythm too, returning to competitive cricket with 82 off 53 balls for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
He has also been declared fit after clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, which is significant because it removes the grey area around availability and allows selectors to focus purely on cricketing fitness.
Tag: T20 World Cup
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After Tilak Varma’s injury setback, BCCI left with no choice but to turn to Shreyas for T20 World Cup squad
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Smiles and heartbreaks of T20 WC
The last match win proved inconsequential for Pakistan over Ireland.
Afghanistan has already assured itself a place in Super 8. South Asian teams end their campaigns on a winning note
By Prabhjot Singh Three of the Asian teams competing in the T20 World Cup ended their group matches on a winning note. The last match wins proved inconsequential for Pakistan (over Ireland) and Sri Lanka (over the Netherlands) as they already stand eliminated from the next round. However, for Bangladesh, its 21-run win over Nepal made sure of its entry into the Super 8 round, thus making it the third South Asian team after India and Afghanistan to join the elite group.
Though Afghanistan has already assured itself a place in Super 8, it has a match against the hosts West Indies in hand.
Until the last group game, one Super Eight spot was still open after Nepal’s heart-breaking loss to South Africa. With Nepal and Sri Lanka out of the reckoning, the battle was between Bangladesh and Netherlands. Bangladesh sealed its slot with a 21-run win over Nepal. Had Bangladesh lost to Nepal in Kingstown, and the Netherlands had beaten Sri Lanka in the last night games, the Super 8 qualification would have come down to net run rates. Since “ifs” are “ifs”, nothing of the sort happened. Bangladesh had the NRR advantage also as it was on 0.478, compared to -0.408 for the Netherlands.
The only redeeming feature of the Sri Lanka-the Netherlands game was that the South Asian Islanders became the first team in this marquee event to cross the 200-mark.Sri Lanka made 201 for six, the highest of the tournament so far, before bowing out with two losses and an abandoned game. Sri Lanka then bowled out the Netherlands for 118 in 16.4 overs to win its last game by 83 runs.
India’s last game against Canada was abandoned. The outcome was inconsequential to the Group A standings as India and USA qualified for the Super 8. After Pakistan won its last game against Ireland, it moved up to number three position in the group, pushing Canada to fourth while winless Ireland remained at the bottom.
A fiery opening spell from Tanzim Hasan Sakib powered Bangladesh to a slightly tense win over Nepal, sealing its progress to the Super Eight stage. For the second game in a row Nepal had a Full Member side on the ropes with its bowling performance in Kingstown. Its batters, however, could not withstand the onslaught of pace battery of Bangladesh.
A win, let alone a comfortable one, looked like a tricky prospect for Bangladesh after it was bundled out for 106. Having come within two runs of chasing down a slightly bigger target against South Africa, Nepal would have fancied its chances of recording its first win against a full member team, but Tanzim scythed through its top order with stunning figures of 4-2-7-4 that reduced Nepal to 26 for 5.
Since the asking rate was neither high nor impossible, it kept Nepal in the hunt as Kushal Malla 27 made from 40 balls, Dipendra Singh Airee 25 from 31 balls, and wicketkeeper batter Aasif Sheikh 17 from 14 balls waged a gallant battle against the ball. But nothing could stop pacers Tanzim Hasan Sakib (4 for seven) and Mustafizur Rehman (three for seven) put on a death bowling masterclass when Nepal needed 30 off 24 to help Bangladesh pull off the lowest successful defense in a men’s T20 World Cup. In fact, when Nepal came to challenge the target of 107 runs, it found itself in a big trouble as Tanzim struck twice in his second over – the third of the innings. Kushal Bhurtel missed a low full toss that swung away late to clip the off stump before Anil Sah toe-ended his effort to mid-off.
As the battle between the bat and the ball continued, Taskin Ahmed created a couple of chances in the next over. It was Tanzim who reaped the rewards of the pressure built, with Rohit Paudel slapping a short and wide delivery straight to backward point. Tanzim nearly struck again in the over, but a plodder from Sundeep Jora fell short of the bowler.
Reliable Aasif Sheikh fell next, caught at cover to complete an excellent powerplay for Bangladesh. Tanzim bowled out in the seventh over, and picked up his fourth wicket when he had Jora caught at gully. He bowled a double-wicket maiden and a wicket maiden, and his 21 dot balls were the most by a bowler in a men’s T20 World Cup match.
In the eighth over, Dipendra Singh Airee ended a 23-ball boundary drought, when he swept the last ball of leg spinner Rishad Hossain to help Nepal reach 50 in the next over.
Kushal Malla and Dipendra Airee continued to build the innings of Nepal, shifting gears in the 16th over when highest scorer for Nepal, Kushal Malla, slog-swept Mahmudullah for teams’ first six of the innings. One ball later, he nudged him fine on the leg side for a four to bring up the fifty partnership. They were left with 30 to win off the last four. But Bangladesh did not let the chance go.
Bangladesh 106 (Shakib 17, Kami 2/10, Lamichhane 2/17, Paudel 2/20, and Dipendra Airee 2/22) beat Nepal 85 (Kushal Malla 27, Dipendra Singh Airee 25 and Aasif Sheikh 17,Tenzim 4/7, Mustafizur 3/7) by 21 runs.(Prabhjot Singh is a senior journalist. He writes with equal aplomb on sports and politics. He can be reached at Prabhjot416@gmail.com)
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Indian Diaspora holds the limelight in T20 World Cup
Six of 20 participating teams are represented by Indian Diaspora
By Prabhjot Singh After the hosts USA defeated Canada in the opening game of the T20 World Cup in Dallas last weekend, Indian Diaspora continues to hold the limelight in this marquee event. In the second game on the same venue, it was the European challenger, the Netherlands beat Nepal by six wickets, focus continued on players of the Indian origin.
The USA-Canada match saw several players of South Asian origin in action. The second game, too, saw players of Indian origin playing a crucial role in the win for the Dutch.
Though Cricket is a game of British origin, it has, like field hockey, come to be known as a game of the South Asian Diaspora. Six of the 20 teams competing in the first ever T20 World Cup being held on the US soil have players of South Asian descent.
While the USA team is led by Monank Patel, it has several other p[layers of South Asian descent. They include Shayan Jahangir, Jessy Singh, Ali Khan, Nitish Kumar, Saurabh Netravalkar, Nisarg Patel. Harmeet Singh, and Milind Kumar. Contrary to belief that cricket is a new game to the American continent, there has been a long history of this “gentleman game” being played in the continent even before the “Test” cricket was introduced. A three-day match played in New York had seen visiting Canada triumph by 23 runs in 1844. Incidentally the first Test match between Australia and England dates back to 1877, 33 years after the first recorded international game in North America. Canada is also led by a player of South Asian origin. He is Saad Bin Jaffer who is credited with taking the wicket of Pakistan’s star batsman Babar Azam. Other players of Canadian team of South Asian origin include Ravinder Pal Singh, Harsh Thakker, Dilpreet Singh, Navneet Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh, Junaid Siddiqui, Kaleem Sana and Shreyas Movva. They dominated the high scoring opening game of the tournament, giving the nearly filled Stadium a good return for its money.
Good work by players of South Asian Diaspora continued in the second game at Dallas where Vikramjit Singh, while playing for the Netherlands, knocked off 22 runs of the Nepalese attack to help his team win the opener. Teja Nidamanura is another player of Indian origin the Dutch team.
Brief Scores of that game are Nepal 106 (19.2 overs) (Rohit Paudel 35, Karan KC 17, Gulshan Jha 14, Logan van Beek 3/18, Tim Pringle 3/20 and Paul van Meckeren 2/19). The Netherlands 109/4 in 18.4 overs( Max O’ Dowd 54 not out, Vikramjit Singh 22, Sybrand Engelbrecht 14, Dipendra Singh Airee 1/6.Sompal Kami 1/18, Abinash 1/29).
Other than the US, Canada and the Netherland teams, players of South Asian descent are also represented on New Zealand, Oman, and Uganda.
While Rachin Ravindra and leg spinner Ish Sodhi are donning Kiwi colors in the T20 World Cup, four players are in the Oman squad. They are Jatinder Singh, Prajapati Kashayap, Pratik Athawale and Sunny Shrivastav.
Uganda, representing Africa along with South Africa, also has three players of Indian origin in its ranks. They are Ronek Patel, Dinesh Nakarani and Alpesh Ramajani.
Former Indian star allrounder Yuvraj Singh is one of the brand ambassadors of the T20 World Cup 2024.
(Prabhjot Singh is currently in New York covering the T20 World Cup. He is a senior journalist who has the rare felicity of covering sports and political news with equal aplomb. He can be reached at prabhjot416@gmail.com)
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T20 World Cup: Daryl Mitchell stars as New Zealand down England to reach maiden final
ABU DHABI (TIP): Opener Daryl Mitchell smashed an unbeaten 72 to lead New Zealand into their first-ever Twenty20 World Cup final with a thrilling five-wicket victory over England on Wednesday, November 10. Chasing 166 for victory, New Zealand were in trouble at 13-2 and 107-4 when Jimmy Neesham turned the semi-final on its head with an 11-ball 27 to help achieve the target with one over to spare in Abu Dhabi. With 20 needed off the final 12 balls, Mitchell smashed Chris Woakes for two sixes and a four before his 47-ball blitz triggered wild celebrations in the New Zealand dugout.
New Zealand will face either Australia or Pakistan in Sunday’s final.
They suffered early blows after Woakes struck on the third ball to send Martin Guptill trudging back to the pavilion for four.
The fast bowler then got skipper Kane Williamson’s prized scalp for five after the batsman attempted a scoop shot to be caught at fine-leg.
Mitchell and Devon Conway put on 82 runs for the third wicket but Liam Livingstone struck with his leg spin to have Conway stumped for 46.
New man Neesham took the bowling head on as he smashed Chris Jordan for two sixes – one of them nearly caught at the boundary by Bairstow but his knee touched the rope – and a four to get 23 runs from the over.
He finally fell to Adil Rashid’s googly with Eoin Morgan holding on to a catch at extra cover.
Earlier Moeen Ali smashed an unbeaten 51 to steer England to 166-four after being invited to bat as Kiwi skipper Williamson won an all-important toss.
England lost their openers including Jos Buttler for 29, lbw off Ish Sodhi.
In-form Moeen But Moeen hit back with his 37-ball knock and put on a key partnership of 63 with Dawid Malan, who hit 41, for the third wicket.
Pace bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult kept a tight leash in the first three overs before Buttler smashed two successive boundaries. In-form Buttler tried to rebuild but an attempt to reverse sweep leg-spinner Sodhi got him trapped lbw for 29 off 24 deliveries.
The opener, who moved past Pakistan’s Babar Azam as the leading batsman in the tournament with 269 runs, reviewed the call but replays suggested the ball would have hit his off stump.
The left-handed Malan, who was dropped on 10 by wicketkeeper Conway off Neesham, hit the first six of the innings off Southee in the 16th over but departed next ball caught behind.
But Moeen launched an attack as he hit Sodhi for a six and then smashed Milne for two hits over the fence.
Livingstone hit 17 off 10 balls before departing and Moeen completed his first fifty of the tournament with a boundary off Neesham.
Source: AFP
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Eye on World T20, India to explore options
Ahmedabad (TIP): India, winners of the inaugural T20 World Cup back in 2007, have done little of note in the tournament since then. Thus, Virat Kohli would have his eye on this year’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in India in October-November, when India play England in a five-match T20I series starting here tomorrow. In recent past, India have done well in T20Is — in 2020, they lost only one match out of 10 played, winning seven outright and two in the Super Over after ties in regulation. They won the three-match series 2-1 in Australia and beat New Zealand 5-0. This positivity makes the team confident, and Kohli would be keen to explore the best combinations for the future in the series against the tough, well-rounded England. Kohli’s primary aim would be to get an idea of his core group of players going into the T20 World Cup. While there are more advantages of having multiple options, fashionably described as a “happy headache” for any captain, there are a few pitfalls that come with such a situation. Kohli understands this well, having burnt his hands during the 2019 World Cup, where India didn’t have a settled No. 4.
Rohit-KL pair
Kohli made it clear that his deputy Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will be the first-choice opening pair going into the World T20, Shikhar Dhawan being in the reserves. “If Rohit plays, then it’s simple. KL (Rahul) and Rohit have been performing consistently at the top of the order for us and those two will start,” Kohli said.
While Suryakumar Yadav is a sentimental favourite for many after last year’s IPL and his subsequent non-selection for the Australia tour, fellow Mumbaikar Shreyas Iyer looks a likely starter at least in the first couple of games. The Motera track will certainly be a flat deck, suiting the needs of the shortest format. Whether it is Rohit, Rishabh Pant or Hardik Pandya for the hosts and captain Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Jason Roy for England, the ball is likely to be hit out of the ground regularly.
Bhuvi back
In the bowling department, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be back leading the attack alongside another senior, Yuzvendra Chahal, for company. With England’s weakness against slow bowlers well-documented in these conditions, Chahal could have both Washington Sundar and Axar Patel bowling spin with him, which leaves Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini vying for one spot. For England, the white ball format presents opportunities to multi-skilled cricketers like Stokes, Sam Curran and IPL auction sensation Moeen Ali for starters, who can change the complexion of any game in either department.
Source: TNS and agencies