Navi Mumbai: Indian team management will heave a sigh of relief with Tilak Varma ticking all the boxes on his return to competitive cricket after a lower abdominal surgery as the ‘A’ team, comprising mostly of IPL stars, comfortably defeated the United States of America by 38 runs in a high-scoring warm-up game here on Monday.
Batting first, India A team batters followed the now-popular attack-at-all-costs template set by the senior team, with Tamil Nadu keeper Narayan Jagadeesan smashing 104 off 55 balls with the help of 11 fours and five sixes.
In reply, the USA gave a decent account of themselves on a flat deck but finally managed 200 with Sanjay Krishnamurthi’s 18-ball-41 being the silver lining.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who is also a contender to replace Washington Sundar if the latter is officially ruled out, did his case no harm with three wickets.
However, for the national selection committee, head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav, the priority was to check Tilak’s match-fitness, having completed a three-week ‘Return To Play’ protocol at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
The stylish southpaw from Hyderabad scored 38 off 24 balls and, in the process, hit a couple of regal sixes off the left-arm spin duo of Harmeet Singh and Nosthush Kenjige. Tilak took a special liking for Harmeet as he hit him for three boundaries.
While he batted for 24 deliveries, what stood out was no apparent discomfort as he executed his shots. During fielding, he sprinted backwards to take a well-judged catch to send back Saiteja Mukkamalla.
Running backwards with the ball drifting away, Tilak maintained his balance and perfectly got under the ball to pouch it cleanly.
Later, Tilak also rolled his arms over to get a wicket and took his second catch. As he passed his fitness test with flying colours and will get back his No. 3 slot, it might be curtains for Sanju Samson, who has endured five consecutive failures and might have to make way for Ishan Kishan.
The other highlight of the match was Riyan Parag’s comeback, although skipper Ayush Badoni (60 off 24 balls) hogged the limelight with some breezy shots towards the end, and Assam’s biggest cricket star only got to face a couple of deliveries.
The India A skipper also didn’t ask Parag to bowl. India’s tearaway quick Mayank Yadav (0/37 in 3 overs), with a slightly re-modelled action that has a less pronounced jump during load-up at the crease, fired in some fast deliveries but was expectedly rusty after a long injury break.
