"Future of India" - Ravindra Jadeja on 20-year-old batter Tilak Varma

Team India's star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has hailed young left-handed batter Tilak Varma as the future of Indian cricket.

Jadeja was recently captured hanging out with the talented youngster in Bangalore. Taking to social media on Tuesday (January 31), he shared a picture alongside Varma. Lavishing praise on the 20-year-old, he wrote captioned his post:

"Chilling with future of India 🏏✌️🤞."

Notably, Varma received praise from all quarters for his inspired knocks in the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year. With 397 runs from 14 matches, the southpaw finished as the second-highest run-scorer for Mumbai Indians.

The former India U19 star has impressed many with his batting exploits in domestic cricket as well. His consistent performances earned him a spot in the India A team and he featured in a first-class match against Bangladesh A in November last year.

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Ravindra Jadeja shone with the ball on Ranji Trophy return

Ravindra Jadeja was on the sidelines for several months owing to a knee injury and had to miss the crucial T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia due to the same.

He returned to competitive cricket after a long injury-enforced break earlier this month. Captaining Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy 2023 clash against Tamil Nadu, Jadeja made a significant impact with the ball.

While he failed to do well with the bat in the contest, he made amends with a seven-wicket haul in Tamil Nadu's second innings. Jadeja's form and fitness are positive signs for Team India, as he is expected to play a major role in the upcoming four-match home Test series against Australia.

Jadeja has been named in India's squad for the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, his participation in the series is subject to fitness. The series opener will be played in Nagpur from February 9.

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India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.

Note: Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion in the squad is subject to fitness.