"What do these Mumbai Indians boys do?" - Aakash Chopra on Tilak Varma opening his account with a six in 1st India vs West Indies T20I
Aakash Chopra has highlighted that Tilak Varma added another chapter to the Mumbai Indians players' tradition of opening their account in international cricket with a maximum.
Varma made his debut in the first T20I between India and the West Indies in Tarouba, Trinidad, on Thursday, August 3. He got off the mark with a six over square leg off Alzarri Joseph's bowling off the second ball he faced.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Tilak Varma was rightly given a debut ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal and praised the former for opening his account spectacularly, elaborating:
"Tilak Varma and Mukesh Kumar made their debuts. Yashasvi Jaiswal could have got the debut cap but if you have a spot vacant at No. 4 and you want to play someone there, then Tilak Varma and not Yashasvi was the right option. What do these Mumbai Indians boys do? Whenever they play their debut game, they open their account with a six."
The former Indian opener pointed out that the debutant was the only batter in India's top six to have a strike rate of more than 100 in Thursday's game, observing:
"Suryakumar Yadav did that, Ishan Kishan (on ODI debut) did that and Tilak Varma has done the same thing. Tilak Varma looked outstanding. If you check the scorecard, all Indian batters were going at a run-a-ball. There was just one batsman who was playing with absolute freedom."
Varma smashed 39 runs off 22 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes. However, his efforts went in vain as India lost the game by four runs to go 1-0 down in the five-match series.
"He wears a new cap every Thursday" - Aakash Chopra on Mukesh Kumar's debut
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Mukesh Kumar earned a debut in all three formats during the ongoing West Indies tour, stating:
"Mukesh Kumar's story is different. He wears a new cap every Thursday. He got the Test cap on the first Thursday, the ODI cap when the next Thursday came, and then the T20I cap on the Thursday after that. He might ask for another cap next Thursday. He has been absolutely outstanding. It's a beautiful story."
Chopra lauded the Bengal seamer for his parsimonious spell at the death. However, he added that the swing bowler could have been given an additional over with the new ball, saying:
"The way Mukesh Kumar bowled in the end, bowled yorkers consistently, he didn't concede a single boundary in his last two overs. There was a no-ball and a free-hit for sure, but he didn't concede a four. I was a little disappointed that you stopped him after the first over, you could have bowled him a second over."
Mukesh went wicketless and conceded 24 runs in three overs. The right-arm seamer gave away nine runs, including two boundaries, in the only over he bowled with the new ball. He nailed his yorkers at the death to help the Men in Blue restrict the Windies to 149/6, which proved enough in the end for the hosts.