Not Jaiswal or Ishan Kishan: Wasim Jaffer picks surprise left-hander as Virat Kohli’s ODI successor at No. 3
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Not Jaiswal or Ishan Kishan: Wasim Jaffer picks surprise left-hander as Virat Kohli’s ODI successor at No. 3")
Not Jaiswal or Kishan Jaffer picks surprise left-hander as Kohli’s ODI heir Photograph: (AFP)
Wasim Jaffer picked Tilak Varma over Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan as the ideal left-handed successor for Virat Kohli at No. 3 in India's ODI lineup.
Talismanic Indian batter Virat Kohli is approaching the end of his cricket career, having already confirmed his participation in the 2027 ODI World Cup to be his last. Although still peaking in the only format he plays in, Kohli’s ODI successor must be finalised before he hangs up his boots. Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has named a surprise left-hander as Kohli’s replacement at number three in the One-Dayers; it’s neither Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, nor even Devdutt Padikkal, who emerged as a Test star recently.
For what Kohli has achieved batting at that position in the 50-over format, he has cemented his place amongst the greatest ODI batters of all time, let alone from India. His numbers put him only second to the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, while Kohli has surpassed him in the number of ODI hundreds. Considering there is plenty of ODI cricket scheduled before the showpiece event gets underway on October 2, 2027, in Africa, Kohli could inch closer to breaking Sachin’s run tally.
Jaffer has brought up T20I mainstay Tilak Varma’s name as Kohli’s potential replacement at number three. Having tasted immense success in the shortest format with one T20 World Cup title to his name, Tilak has shown quality even batting up the order.
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Pressing his case ahead of the regulars in the ODIs, Jaffer, on his YouTube Channel, said, “It feels great to see his 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.”
Explaining his decision behind not picking Jaiswal as Kohli’s potential replacement, Jaffer said, “It’s about time. When Virat and Rohit leave, Rohit, obviously, is a top-order batter, and Yashasvi Jaiswal is there to replace him, but I feel there will be a left-handed batter in Virat’s place. He has that game; 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.”
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Meanwhile, Tilak has limited experience leading up to the 50-over World Cup, having played five ODIs. He has batted twice at number three, and once each at number four and five, scoring 68 runs at an average of 22.67. Tilak’s last ODI appearance came against South Africa in December 2025.
