Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal break into India squad for WI T20Is in Agarkar's first assignment as chairman of selectors

Youngsters Tilak Varma and Yashasvi Jaiswal have broken into India's 15-member squad for the five-match T20I series against West Indies starting August 3. Ajit Agarkar, BCCI's newly-appointed chairman of selectors hasn't rung in too many chances in the Hardik Pandya-led T20I set-up barring giving Varma his maiden India call-up. Meanwhile, Jaiswal, after getting selected in the Test and ODI squads earlier, completed a trifecta by making it in the 20-overs set-up. There is still no place for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – on expected lines – as India attempt to make a transitional shift, starting with the T20Is given the World Cup in mind next year.

Can Hardik Pandya spark a T20 revolution once again in the Indian team?(Getty)

The squad, brimming with young talent, features Suryakumar Yadav as Hardik's deputy and includes several names who missed the New Zealand series earlier this year. Avesh Khan returns from injury, Sanju Samson is back and so is leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Among those to have missed the cut are Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar and Prithvi Shaw. Fast bowler Mukesh Kumar has hung on to his place although it remains to be seen whether he gets a game in any of the five matches held across Trinidad, Guyana and Lauderhill, Florida.

But spare a thought for the men of the hour – Varma – and Jaiswal in particular, whose stocks continue to rise. The 22-year-old youngster from Mumbai had a ravaging IPL 2023 season for Rajasthan Royals, scoring 625 runs from 14 matches – including the record for smacking the quickest fifty in the history of IPL off just 13 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders. This was to go with a century earlier – 124 against Mumbai Indians – and four more half-centuries. His rise across all formats made him a definite pick for the future, which Agarkar and his colleagues rightfully noticed and invested in.

Varma, meanwhile continued this season where he left off last year. Although the 20-year-old could not match his tally from IPL 2022, Varma's impact of 343 runs in 11 matches was much more. Bought for ₹1.7 crore, Varma played several crucial knocks including an unbeaten 84 off 46 balls in MI's IPL 2023 opener and a 17-ball 37 against Sunrisers Hyderabad which came at a strike-rate of 217. So impressive was Varma that MI captain Rohit Sharma and former coach Ravi Shastri backed the youngster to play for India soon.

India’s T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.

More to follow…