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Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) former director of cricket Mike Hesson has revealed that the franchise was very keen to acquire the services of Tilak Varma at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 auction. He, however, lamented that the left-handed batter ended up being one of RCB’s missed targets at the IPL 2022 auction.
Varma has been among the most promising young players in the IPL over the last couple of seasons. He was purchased by the Mumbai Indians (MI) for ₹1.7 crore at the 2022 auction. In 25 matches, the 21-year-old has scored 740 at an average of 38.95 and a strike rate of 144.53, with three fifties, including a best of 84*.
In an interview with Cricket.com, Hesson stated that RCB wanted to purchase Varma and agreed, in hindsight, that the franchise could have pushed harder for him at the IPL 2022 auction.
"I think he is one that I wish that we pushed a little bit harder for. All good in hindsight but he’s proven that he is a high-quality player. Being a left-hander would always be helpful for that RCB top-order,” he commented.
Explaining why Varma would have been a very good addition to the RCB franchise in the IPL, Hesson said:
“It would have been nice to have another left-hander in the top-order. There was a lot of talk that he was susceptible to the short ball domestically. But certainly since he’s come to the IPL, he’s made every post a winner.”
While Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to buy Varma at the IPL 2022 auction, they ended up having the services of Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar, who came in as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia and had an impressive season. Both Varma and Patidar have played for India recently.
Tilak Varma in the running for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad
Varma is among the youngsters who are in the running for a place in India’s squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be played in the West Indies and the United States.
The 21-year-old has featured in 16 T20I matches and has scored 336 runs at an average of 33.60 and a strike rate of 139.41. He has two half-centuries to his credit in the format, with a best of 55*.
In his overall T20 career, the southpaw has played 70 matches, scoring 2,042 runs at an average of 40.03 and a strike rate of 142.10, with one hundred and 13 fifties.
