'1 Deadly Knock, Then 4 Failures': Mumbai Indians Given Reality-Check On Tilak Varma Amid Captaincy Talks

Tilak Varma appears to be a long-term leadership bet for Mumbai Indians (MI). With the franchise expected to part ways with Hardik Pandya, Tilak has been touted as a captaincy option in the future, and possibly even for IPL 2027. In recent days, several reports have suggested that Rohit Sharma could take over as MI captain once again. Nevertheless, Tilak is in line to become the franchise's skipper in the future, having already served as Team India's vice-captain in T20Is as well.

However, former India cricketer and BCCI chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth is not yet convinced by Tilak's performances, particularly in the IPL.

In a scathing assessment on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth raised questions over Tilak being a captaincy option for the franchise, highlighting the left-hander's inconsistent displays.

"Though Tilak Varma might become vice-captain, he has also been very inconsistent for MI. Last year, barring one century, he was inconsistent. In fact, in the last two to three years, Tilak has been nothing deadly. His trend has been to produce one deadly knock and then fail the next four matches," Srikkanth said, as quoted by Sportskeeda.

Srikkanth also expressed sympathy for Suryakumar Yadav, with the latter seemingly not involved in discussions for captaincy despite being a T20 World Cup-winning skipper for India.

"In all this, Suryakumar Yadav will be thinking about how he has been forgotten. But I don't buy into the rumors that he might be gone from MI. That won't happen this year, with the mega auction next year. I feel for Surya, as he is a World Cup-winning captain, yet no one is talking about him amid all this," Srikkanth said.

Mumbai Indians, along with all other franchises, have until November 15 to finalise their retentions. The IPL 2027 mini-auction is scheduled to take place on December 16.

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