Mohammad Kaif advised Tilak Verma to continue performing. He said that if his form deteriorated, he could be dropped from the team.
Tilak Verma has become the new vice-captain of the team for the T20 series between India and Ireland. The selectors have made a change in the management of the T20 World Cup title-winning team. Shreyas Iyer was given command of the team in place of Suryakumar Yadav. The former captain was also dropped from the squad due to poor form. Akshar Patel was also present as vice-captain, but once Iyer became captain, Tilak Verma became vice-captain.
The vice-captain’s place is also at risk
Mohammad Kaif has warned Tilak not to view the vice-captainship as a guarantee of a permanent place in the Indian T20 team. The former Indian batsman stressed that performance is the only criterion for selection, irrespective of the leadership role a player holds. There has been a new trend in the Indian team for some time now: despite being part of the leadership group, your place in the team is not confirmed. For example, Shubman Gill played as vice-captain in many T20 series but did not play in the T20 World Cup and now the same has happened with Akshar Patel.
Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel: “Tilak Verma is a vice-captain, yes, but vice-captains have been sacked too.” If Tilak starts thinking, “I am the vice-captain, my place is safe,” then the Indian team does not work like that. If he wants to play continuously, he will have to maintain his form. If there is even a slight decline in form, you can serve it out. Before this, Akshar Patel was the vice-captain. You remember that he is no longer vice-captain. Now the team has moved forward with Tilak.
Vaibhav didn’t have a chance
India won the toss and decided to bat first in the first T20 match against Ireland on Friday. Young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi will not play in this match. “It’s a new ground for us and not many of us have played in Belfast before, so we want to bowl first,” Indian captain Shreyas Iyer said after winning the toss. He (Gautam Gambhir) advised the players to play openly. We must adapt to circumstances as quickly as possible. Our training went very well. We want to think about one match at a time. I always advise keeping it simple and trying to stay in the present. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is not playing today. Our team has a lot of experience and there are many players who have performed well for India in recent times. Currently we have three fast bowlers and one all-rounder.