India’s young batter Tilak Varma’s had a disappointing end to his maiden stint with Hampshire. In the ongoing England’s One-Day Cup, he registered his second duck in three games. As Varma departed early, Hampshire were bowled out for 194 as Worcestershire's Ben Allison registered a six-wicket haul. Worcestershire chased down the target with five wickets in hand and 9.5 overs to spare. As his Hampshire stint came to an end, he expressed his gratitude for the club and backs them to bounce back in the tournament.
"Not the way I was looking to end my season, disappointing really,” Varma was quoted as saying by Hampshire.
“We were looking more at 250/270, so we felt like we were light. Gubbo (Nick Gubbins) got in and showed it was a good batting wicket.
“Worcestershire batted well in fairness, and the boys will bounce back from that I am sure.
“I have loved my time at Hampshire, it has been a dream to play over here and I hope that I can perhaps come back one day."
Varma’s numbers in maiden Hampshire stint
Varma departed for a duck against Glamorgan as well but made an impact with the ball, taking the wicket of wicketkeeper-batter Alex Horton. He scored a half-century in the successful run chase against Essex before the duck in his last game.
The no.2 T20I batter was impressive in the red-ball format. In four County Championship Division One 2025 games, he scored 358 runs from six innings at an average of 59.66, including two centuries and one fifty. He intends to get rid of the image that he is only a T20 batter and hopes to make his Test debut.
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Varma to lead South Zone
Varma will return to India and lead South Zone in Duleep Trophy 2025. South Zone will play in the first-semifinal, starting September 4.
Will Varma be in India’s T20 Asia Cup squad?
It will be interesting to see whether he is on the flight to UAE for the T20 Asia Cup 2025. India begin their T20 Asia Cup campaign against UAE on September 10.
So far, he has played 25 T20Is and scored 749 runs at an average of 49.94, including two centuries and three fifties. His strike rate is 155.07.
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