Tilak Varma has been recruited by Hampshire County Cricket Club. The left-handed Hyderabad batter has been offered a stint for close to two months by the Southampton head-quartered county. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) have extended him the NOC.
GAME TIME
Hampshire sign Tilak Varma for a short stint
Tilak Varma will at least play four four-day games. © Getty
According to information available with Cricbuzz, Varma, 22, will play for the English county from June 18 to August 2 during which he will feature in four four-day games initially. Whether he will represent the county in white ball games also is not clear.
"The Hyderabad Cricket Association is happy to inform that Hyderabad International player Mr. N Thakur Tilak Varma has been approached by the team Hampshire County to play in the UK County Championship League. The Hyderabad Cricket Association wishes him a great stint with Hampshire County," the HCA said in a statement.
In 18 first class games, Varma has 1204 runs at an average of over 50 with five centuries and four half centuries. He is of course a white-ball specialist, having represented India in four ODIs and 25 T20Is with a particularly healthy average of close to 50 (49.93) average in T20Is (749 runs in 24 innings) and a strike rate of 155.
Hampshire county, as is well known, has been purchased by Hyderabad-based GMR Group, and it is not a surprise that the club has chosen Varma. James Vince, a right-handed batter and an occasional right-arm medium bowler, is the white ball skipper of Hampshire. Ben Brown, a right-handed wicket keeper batter, is the captain of the county in red ball format.
© Cricbuzz
