Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has identified the perfect successor for Virat Kohli’s No. 3 spot in ODI cricket once the legendary batter retires. Kohli, 37, has confirmed that the 2027 World Cup will be his last, leading to experts and fans assuming that his retirement from the format is not too far away. Following India’s victory over Pakistan in the Asian Games 2026 final, Jaffer claimed that left-hander Tilak Varma would be the ideal person to take over the No. 3 position in ODIs from Kohli.
In the Asian Games final, Tilak came in to bat at No. 6 and smashed a crucial 22-ball unbeaten 51 as India beat Pakistan by 19 runs.
Jaffer, who played 31 Tests for India, was evidently impressed and touted Tilak for bigger things.
“It feels great to see his (Tilak’s) versatility. He previously scored a century at No. 3, and now he has adapted to the No. 5 and No. 6 positions so beautifully. This is an amazing quality,” said Jaffer, speaking on his YouTube channel.
“When Virat and Rohit leave, obviously Yashasvi Jaiswal is there to replace Rohit, but I feel Tilak can take Virat’s spot. You will get a left-hander as well. We saw the way he scored runs in the Duleep Trophy. His first-class average is around 55. So, he can fit into all three formats pretty easily,” Jaffer added.
Despite being only 23, Tilak is already a veteran for India in T20I cricket, having played 65 matches and been part of the T20 World Cup 2026-winning squad. However, in spite of having an average of 57 in first-class cricket and 47 in List A cricket, Tilak has played no Tests and only five ODIs for India.
When Kohli hangs up his gloves, India will not be short of candidates to replace him. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan have recently played and thrived in India’s middle-order in ODIs. Rishabh Pant remains mercurially talented and can never be ruled out. On the other hand, one could even see captain Shubman Gill take up the No. 3, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fast-tracked as an opener into the 50-over side.
However, above the plethora of options, Jaffer picked Tilak as his candidate to take Kohli’s spot.
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