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According to the report of Times of India, Tilak Verma is in top-6 Shreyas Iyer Preparation as an alternative is being considered. The biggest thing in Tilak’s favor is that he is a left-handed batsman. Since there are mostly right-handed batsmen in the Indian batting order, Tilak can give a better left-right hand balance to the team.

Focus not only on batting, but also on bowling

• The team management is not looking at Tilak Verma only as a batting option. He is also being encouraged to work on his off-spin bowling.
• In ODI cricket, if Tilak is able to bowl a few overs effectively, then it can give additional options to the team. Especially when there is more pressure on the main bowlers. The team management wants that there should be a player in the top order who can bowl a few overs if needed.
• The fitness of Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy is also considered to be an important reason behind preparing Tilak as a backup option.
• Quoting a BCCI source, TOI said that Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill feel that there is not enough backup ready for the middle order at the moment.
• In such a situation, they want an option which along with batting can also bowl about four overs in ODIs. This can give the Indian team more flexibility while choosing the playing-11 and the workload of the frontline bowlers can also be reduced.

New Zealand tour in October will be important

India’s World Cup planning is expected to gain further momentum from the five-match ODI series against New Zealand in October. Before that, an ODI series is to be played against West Indies from 27th September, but many key players will not be available in this series. At the same time, the entire T20 setup of the Indian team will be busy in the Asian Games to be held in Japan. In such a situation, it will be difficult to predict the final picture of the 2027 World Cup from the West Indies series.

Keep an eye on the future of senior players also

• The selectors are keeping an eye not only on the backup players but also on the future and fitness of the senior players of the team.
• By the 2027 World Cup, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be in the final stages of their international careers.
• KL Rahul will also be more than 35 years of age by then. At the same time, Ravindra Jadeja’s place is also not considered completely confirmed.
• Apart from this, the continuous fitness problems have also affected the fielding of the Indian team.
• This is why the selection committee is already exploring different combinations and options of players, so that the team has adequate backup at the time of the World Cup.

A different picture will be seen in the West Indies series

Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Verma, Ishan Kishan and Axar Patel are expected to be unavailable in the upcoming ODI series against West Indies. Therefore, the team that will take the field in this series cannot be considered as a direct indication of India’s 2027 World Cup team.

At present, the management is keeping an eye on Tilak Verma because he can provide the option of part-time off spin along with left-handed batting. If he plays this role successfully in ODIs, his importance may increase in the preparation for the 2027 World Cup.