'Suryakumar Yadav won't provide bowling option, why not Tilak Varma?' - Aakash Chopra reacts to rumoured India provisional World Cup squad

Tickets for the upcoming ODI World Cup are selling like hotcakes. The excitement among the fans is palpable as the marquee event, which India will exclusively host for the first time, is just over a month away. The former two-time champions, India, are one of the teams yet to announce their provisional squad for the tournament.

However, as per reports, the selectors have zeroed in on 15 players, who are set to form the provisional squad. From the 17-member Asia Cup that was picked, Tilak Varma and Prasidh Krishna have been left out. Traveling reserve for the Asia Cup, Sanju Samson, is also not in the squad. Aakash Chopra gave his take on the squad, saying that he wasn't happy with Tilak's exclusion.

The former India opener questioned why the Southpaw was selected for the Asia Cup if he wasn't going to be picked in the provisional squad for the World Cup. Aakash noted that Tilak could have provided India with a part-time bowling option with his off-spin, something that they won't get from Suryakumar Yadav, who is in the squad.

"The question will remain that you have kept Suryakumar Yadav, and I love him to bits, but the truth is that he too doesn't bowl and in ODIs, his numbers are also not that good. You picked Tilak Varma (in the Asia Cup squad) but why did you pick him? You wouldn't have picked him just to bat in the nets in the Asia Cup," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

You said he is very promising and has a lot of potential but neither did you play him in the last match (against Pakistan) nor will you play him in this match (against Nepal), and will not put his name in the provisional squad as well," he concluded.

Tilak did commendably during West Indies tour but had poor outings against Ireland 

Tilak Varma had a fantastic debut T20I series against the West Indies in recent times. Speaking of his performances in his debut away tour for Team India, the southpaw finished with 173 runs in five matches. Notably, during these five games, the ravishing batter had a stellar average of 57.67. Moreover, his bat breathed fire as he maintained an impressive strike rate of 140.65.

However, in the Ireland tour, the results for the youngster were not favourable. Tilak was not able to keep up his good form with the bat when he played against Ireland in their backyard. The 20-year-old registered scores of 0 and 1 in the two games.