Tilak Varma of the Mumbai Indians gave Rahul Dravid credit for taming his jitters before making his India debut in the inaugural T20I match against the West Indies in Trinidad.
The 20-year-old has been the bright spot in the dark tunnel despite the Men in Blue’s poor batting performance in the first two games. Tilak scored a counterattacking 39 off 22 deliveries in the first T20I after hitting his second and third balls for a maximum on his debut.
The southpaw backed that up in the second game with his first half-century, scoring 51 runs off 41 pitches to rescue the team.
Tilak thanked captain Hardik Pandya and head coach Rahul Dravid for giving him a pep talk before his debut in a press conference following the second T20I.
“Since the U-19 World Cup, Rahul sir and I have been working together. He constantly advises us to stick to the fundamentals and spend more time on the wicket. The same thing was being said to me by Hardik Bhai. He advised me to stick to my fundamentals and have fun playing because I had performed well in both the domestic and IPL competitions.
The batsman from Hyderabad had a standout IPL season, amassing 343 runs for the Mumbai Indians in 11 games at an average of 42.88 and a 164.11 strike rate. Tilak Varma had a strong rookie season, scoring 397 runs in 14 games for an average of 36.10.
With averages of 37.70 and 56.18 in T20s and List-A cricket, respectively, the young player has astounding statistics.
“Pooran deserves credit for the way he batted,” (Tilak Varma)
Nicholas Pooran, a fellow left-hander, received praise from Tilak Varma for his game-winning innings in the second T20I, which gave West Indies a 2-0 series lead. The 27-year-old instantly accelerated despite being 2/2 in the opening over of the run-chase on a difficult Guyana surface.
Pooran scored 67 runs in total off just 40 balls, including six fours and four sixes, putting the hosts just one run away from victory. The Men from the Caribbean finished the job with two wickets and seven balls to spare despite a lower middle-order collapse.
“Pooran deserves credit for the way he batted. He immediately applied pressure to the bowlers. It was not going to be simple for a new batter, so we knew we needed one wicket to change the situation, said Tilak Varma.
Varma also acknowledged that his team might have fallen a few runs short of a score of par despite the slick playing surface.
“Wicket was double-paced and a little on the slow side. Any score between 150 and 160 was considered to be a good one. We probably fell 10 runs short in the end,” he continued.
The defeat increases the likelihood that India Blue would lose their first T20I series to the West Indies since 2017. On Tuesday, August 8, Team India will still play in the third T20I, which they must win.
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