Mumbai Indians batsman Tilak Varma acknowledged head coach Rahul Dravid for easing his nerves before his India debut in the first T20I against the West Indies in Trinidad.
Despite the Indian cricket team’s poor batting display in the first two matches, the 20-year-old Tilak Varma has been a beacon of hope.
Making his debut, he smashed a six on his second and third ball and played an aggressive innings of 39 runs off 22 deliveries in the opening T20I.
In the subsequent match, the left-handed batsman recorded his first half-century, scoring 51 runs off 41 balls to rescue the team from a difficult situation.
In his post-match interview after the second T20I, Tilak attributed his debut performance to the motivating talks from head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Hardik Pandya.
“I have been working with Rahul sir since my U-19 World Cup days. He always tells us to follow the basics and spend more time on the wicket.”
“Hardik bhai was also telling me the same. He told me that you have done well in the domestic and the IPL, follow your basics and enjoy your game,” he said.
The Hyderabad-born cricketer had an outstanding IPL season, scoring 343 runs in 11 games at an average of 42.88 and a strike rate of 164.11 for Mumbai Indians.
In both T20s and List-A cricket, the young cricketer possesses remarkable statistics, boasting averages of 37.70 and 56.18, respectively.
“Pooran deserves credit for his batting performance”- Tilak Varma
Tilak Varma commended left-hander Nicholas Pooran for his exceptional match-winning innings in the second T20I, which led West Indies to a 2-0 series lead.
Despite a challenging Guyana pitch and coming in at 2/2 in the run-chase’s first over, the 27-year-old displayed immediate aggression and took control of the game.
Pooran scored an impressive 67 runs off just 40 balls, smashing six fours and four sixes to bring the hosts close to victory.
Despite a collapse in the lower middle-order, the Caribbean team managed to secure the win with two wickets and seven balls remaining.
“Credit goes to Pooran, the way he batted. He put the pressure on the bowlers straightaway. We knew that we needed one wicket to turn things around because it was not going to be easy for a new batter,” said Tilak Varma.
Varma acknowledged that despite the sticky nature of the pitch, his team fell a few runs short of achieving a par score.
“Wicket was bit on the slower side and it was double paced as well. We thought anything between 150-160 will be a good score. I guess at the end we were 10 runs short,” he added.
The loss puts India Blue at risk of facing their first T20I series defeat against the West Indies since 2017. The decisive third T20I for Team India will be held at Guyana on Tuesday, August 8.
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