Australia’s two-time (2003 and 2007) ODI World Cup-winning opener Matthew Hayden, 51, reckoned India have a fine mix of young talent and seasoned pros who will add great value to their World Cup campaign.

‘Good strategy to use Tilak’

The selection of 20-year-old batter Tilak Varma, picked by the national selection committee for India’s Asia Cup matches in Sri Lanka on Monday, went down well with the Queensland cricket great-turned-commentator. “Look, in the lead up to the [October-November] World Cup you’re always going to have some trial players and we’ve seen the class of Varma. I think it’s good strategy in terms of not just this World Cup, but even potentially getting into the next World Cup,” Hayden said during an interaction with select media on the sidelines of the Ceat cricket awards at a city hotel on Monday.