Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that Mumbai Indians should play Tilak Varma in their match against Lucknow Super Giants if he is match-fit and available. He believes that Tilak Varma is a match-winner and Mumbai must add him in the squad for the must-win game.
Tilak should be preferred
Tilak Varma has not played last three Mumbai Indians games due to a hamstring injury. However, he has batted really well in nine games so far in the IPL 2023 to score 274 runs at an excellent average of 45.67. Aakash Chopra, ahead of Mumbai’s next clash against Lucknow, said on his YouTube channel, “Play Tilak Varma if he is available. You can drop an overseas batter or a bowler, you can drop anyone because neither Cameron Green nor Tristan Stubbs nor anyone else you might want to play will be helpful on this pitch.”
He further added, “Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Nehal Wadhera, Tilak Varma – these are the guys who will win you the game if you win the match. It is important for Mumbai to win because if they win this match and the next as well, only one team can reach 18 points, that is Team Mumbai.”
Mumbai’s strategy against Lucknow
Mumbai Indians are presently in the third place of the IPL 2023 points table with 14 points. If they win their last two league games against Lucknow and Sunrisers Hyderabad, they will be able to finished in the top two and play the Qualifier 1. Chopra said, “Mumbai will have to play spin. Play Hrithik Shokeen here because there are a lot of left-handers in the opposition team. So you can play Hrithik Shokeen and think about Raghav Goyal.”
He concluded by explaining why the visiting team’s seamers might not be successful in Lucknow. “Kumar Kartikeya has done well. But I would still be keen to get Hrithik Shokeen or Raghav Goyal, take the ball away, and there is no doubt that Piyush Chawla is bowling well. You will play fast bowling for sure but it will not be very helpful.”
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.cricadium.com/play-tilak-varma-if-he-is-available-aakash-chopra/&media=https://www.cricadium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ICC-617-jpg.webp&description="Play Tilak Varma if he is available”, Aakash Chopra. He believes that Tilak Varma is a match-winner and Mumbai must add him in the squad for the must-win game.%%page%%){kind=link}