Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin is hopeful of Tilak Varma making his Test debut for Team India. Notably, his comments came right after his match-winning performance in the second T20I against New Zealand in Christchurch.
Speaking exclusively to ANI, the former Indian skipper reckoned that for him the longest format of the game is the most important format and is confident of the Hyderabad batter making it to the red-ball format soon.
“Today, I am very happy with the way Tilak Varma has played. He is a very good player, and I sincerely hope and pray that he gets the opportunity to play Test cricket,” Azharuddin told ANI.
“For me, Test cricket is the most important format, and I hope he goes on to represent India in Tests as well. He has been performing very well in T20 cricket, and I think he played a crucial role in ensuring India’s victory in second T20I. Congratulations to the team. Cricket is a team game, and the entire team deserves to be congratulated. I wish them the very best of luck,” he added.
In the Duleep Trophy 2026 campaign, Tilak registered scores of 116*, 51* and 99 for South Zone, emerging as the tournament’s second-leading run-scorer with 266 runs, only behind East Zone skipper Ishan Kishan. After his heroics in the Duleep Trophy, Tilak had revealed his intentions of red-ball cricket being his favourite format.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it [red-ball] cricket comes naturally. But I began my professional journey in red-ball cricket and played for many years with the red ball. Over the past few seasons, I’ve played a lot of white-ball cricket, but red-ball remains my favourite format – it’s my A game,” Tilak Varma had told reporters during Duleep Trophy 2026 campaign.
