Tilak Varma's Century in England Boosts Test Call-Up Hopes Amid India's Woes
Tilak Varma scored 112 off 256 balls for Hampshire against Nottinghamshire in the 2025 County Championship, his second century in three matches, boosting his Test call-up chances.
Tilak Varma has continued to push his case for a maiden Test call-up with another century in England. The left-handed middle-order batter smashed 112 off 256 balls in 346 minutes with 13 fours and two sixes for Hampshire against Nottinghamshire in the 2025 County Championship at the Utilita Bowl.
Nottinghamshire had scored a whopping 578 in the first innings, led by LW James' 203. Varma came to strike with the score at 111/2 and helped double that. He steadied the ship initially before unleashing his full flurry of shots, showing his technical efficiency as well as his ability to pick up the right gaps.
Watch highlights of the century here:
Tilak Varma doing what he does best. The highlights of his classy century against Nottinghamshire pic.twitter.com/bjFDBo5zUB — Rothesay County Championship (@CountyChamp) July 25, 2025
This was his second century in three matches for the county side. He first scored a 100 on debut against Essex and followed it up with scores of 56 and 47 vs Worcestershire.
They are trailing 2-1 in the five-match rubber and quite behind the eight ball in the third Test in Manchester. That has started questions about the team's depth in the middle-order.
'Shardul (Thakur), Washi (Washington Sundar), and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) got some runs, but when you rely on three all-rounders to fill your middle-order, you're always living on hope rather than certainty, I'm surprised that with an 18-member squad now 19 with Anshul Kamboj added you still don't have a single backup middle-order batter," former India cricketer Aakash Chopra recently said in a YouTube video on his channel.
'Jaddu had four fifties in a row. He was due a failure and it came at a crucial time. You cannot rely on form alone when picking your batting order. India were clearly one batter short," he added.
With injuries piling up to key players, like Rishabh Pant, perhaps the selectors will look at Tilak for a call-up.
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