"Rinku Singh could have been a better choice" - Aakash Chopra on Tilak Varma's selection as a potential lower-middle-order batter for WI T20Is

Aakash Chopra reckons Rinku Singh could have been a better option than Tilak Varma if the selectors were looking for a lower-middle-order batter for India's T20I side.

The selectors named a 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against the West Indies on Wednesday, July 5. Rinku, who played some breathtaking knocks as a finisher in IPL 2023 and was one of the frontrunners to earn a maiden India call-up, was surprisingly not picked.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Rinku should have been picked ahead of Varma unless the latter is being looked at as a No. 3 batter:

"In the middle order - Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya. I don't think the team is thinking of playing Tilak Varma at No. 3. If they were searching for a player to bat after Hardik Pandya, then Rinku Singh could have been a better choice unless Tilak Varma will play at No. 3."

The former Indian opener pointed out that Varma might not get to bat at No. 3, reasoning:

"You might want to play Tilak Varma down the order because whether it is Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson, the two wicketkeepers you have picked, their best place for batting is in the top three."

Hardik Pandya and Co. might bat either Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson at No. 3 if they are looking at Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal as the two openers. They could alternatively play both wicketkeepers, with Kishan opening the batting and Samson batting at No. 3.

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"You don't want to send Suryakumar Yadav lower than No. 4" - Aakash Chopra on why Tilak Varma might have to bat down the order

Suryakumar Yadav is expected to bat either at No. 3 or No. 4 in the T20I series against the West Indies.

Aakash Chopra highlighted that Varma is unlikely to get the No. 4 position either:

"If you keep them in the top three, Tilak Varma will have to go down. If he goes down, you don't want to send Suryakumar Yadav lower than No. 4, ideally at three and latest at four."

With Hardik Pandya expected to bat at No. 5, the reputed commentator questioned whether Varma is the right option at No. 6:

"Then Hardik Pandya at No. 5. So Tilak Varma at No. 6. Is that the right choice? This will be one question because in the last IPL he played as well, he batted at the top of the order at the start, he played very well, in fact I remember the 70-run knock against Bangalore."

While acknowledging that the Mumbai Indians batter gave a decent account of himself while batting down the order in IPL 2023, Chopra concluded by reiterating that Rinku Singh might have been a better choice:

"He came in the lower order after that, when they once again started to bat Cameron Green up the order. There also he batted well but if he has not been selected for No. 3, if he has been selected for Nos. 5, 6 or 7, Rinku Singh could have been a better choice."

Varma smashed 343 runs at an average of 42.88 and a strike rate of 164.11 in his 11 innings in IPL 2023. Rinku amassed 474 runs in his 14 innings at an average of 59.25 and a strike rate of 149.52, with his match-winning five consecutive sixes off the last five balls off Yash Dayal's bowling becoming the talk of the cricketing world.