Young Indian batter Tilak Varma has made a sensational debut in international cricket so far, notching up 139 runs after his first three T20I matches against West Indies. Tilak Varma is already the second highest run-getter among Indians behind Deepak Hooda who achieved 172 runs in 3 matches.


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With the last two matches of the T20I series set to take place in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, USA over this weekend, Tilak Varma can smash a massive record held by former Indian captain Virat Kohli in a five-match T20I series. Kohli holds the record for Indian batter with most runs in a five-match T20I series – scoring 231 runs with 3 fifties in a series against England in 2020-21.


Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma needs only 93 runs in the last two T20I matches to overhaul Kohli’s tally, which is the fourth-best in T20I cricket history. KL Rahul is in 5th place with 224 runs against New Zealand in 2019-20 series.


The record for the most runs in a five-match T20I series belongs to New Zealand’s Mark Chapman who notched up 290 runs against Pakistan in 2022-23 series. South Africa’s Quinton de Kock is in second place with 255 runs against West Indies in 2020-21 and Ireland’s Paul Stirling is in third place with 234 runs against Zimbabwe in 2021-22 series.



Most runs by a batter in 5-match T20I series…


1. Mark Chapman (New Zealand) – 290 runs vs Pakistan in 2022-23


2. Quinton de Kock (South Africa) – 255 runs vs West Indies in 2020-21


3. Paul Stirling (Ireland) – 234 runs vs Zimbabwe in 2021-22


4. Virat Kohli (India) – 231 runs vs England in 2020-21


5. KL Rahul (India) – 227 runs vs New Zealand in 2019-20


Meanwhile, Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has urged the national selectors and team management to show faith in talented Tilak Varma and include him in the Cricket World Cup 2023 squad as he could possibly be the answer to India’s middle-order woes with multiple batters still recovering from injuries.


Ashwin’s comments were also backed by former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, who wouldn’t mind seeing Varma in the final 15, provided Shreyas Iyer fails to make the cut. The 20-year-old stylish Hyderabad left-hander has impressed one and all with scores of 39, 50 and 49 not out in three T20I games in the West Indies and not for once looked out of place at the international level.


“This is neck-and-neck with respect to the World Cup. So, will they think about Tilak Varma as an option if we don’t have enough backups? Because Sanju Samson has performed really well in ODIs,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.


“But the exciting part about Tilak Varma is that he is a left-hander and Team India is lacking left-handers. Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is the only left-handed batter in the top 7.”