"India Player Already": Ravi Shastri Bats For This IPL Star's Selection

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was all praise for Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Tilak Varma and said that he would be very surprised if the youngster did not play for the country in the next six to eight months. On Tuesday, Tilak scored a crucial 41 off 29 balls and shared a 68-run stand with skipper Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians registered their first win of the season after beating the Delhi Capitals. Shastri was impressed with Tilak's perforamances in IPL 2023, saying that the 20-year-old looks like a "India player already".

"India player already. This guy is an Indian player and I would be very surprised if he does not play T20 cricket for India in the next six months or eight months. He has got the maturity, he has got the flare. He will make a world of difference to the Indian middle order," Shastri said on Star Sports.

Shastri further suggested that the maturity shown by Tilak is a positive sign for his franchise, as well as the Indian team.

"He is just 20 years of age, the kind of maturity he is showing, is someone who is much older than that. It is very positive, not only from the Mumbai point of view but from the India point of view as well," he added.

Tilak, who was bought by Mi during the mega auction last year for Rs 1.70 crore, enjoyed a breakthrough season in IPL 2022, scoring 397 runs 14 matches at an average of 36.09.

So far, he scored 147 runs in three matches with an impressive average of 73.5.