India’s T20I team will bear a unique selection headache involving vice-captain Tilak Varma, according to former South Africa captain AB de Villiers.

The national selectors recently named a full-strength T20I side for India’s three-match series against Afghanistan and the subsequent Asian Games campaign. India will also feature in a historic one-off T20I against Japan on September 22, six days out from their quarter-final fixture in the Asian Games.

However, despite his glowing form in recent First-Class assignments, de Villiers said India will find it difficult to find a fixed slot for the left-handed Tilak.

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“There will definitely be some selection issues with regard to the batters. Obviously, Shreyas, captain, Ishan Kishan, Samson, Sooryavanshi, and then there are all-rounders, Tilak Varma; I think that’s where the balance is quite tricky. Where will he bat?”

Since clinching the T20 World Cup at home in March, India have had a mixed record in the format. Shreyas Iyer’s men lost all six completed matches on the tour of Ireland and England before winning a three-match series in Zimbabwe.

With a host of first-choice players in the mix, de Villiers said that the team management will need to prioritise role clarity.

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Head coach Gautam Gambhir will look after the Indian side in the Afghanistan series, while the BCCI’S Centre of Excellence (CoE) chief VVS Laxman will oversee the Asian Games contingent in Japan. The continental event will clash with India’s limited-overs series against West Indies, starting September 27.

“Really, really strong squad, but the balance will be tricky to figure out. It is T20 cricket, so they can play around with the squad a little bit. There are different roles, but the role clarification will still be incredibly important for India, as they are playing quite a dangerous team,” de Villiers added.

Tilak was the key batter for South Zone during the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy, registering scores of 116*, 51* and 99 across the semi-final and final for South Zone.