In anticipation of the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, India’s benched star players will have an opportunity to shine during the five-match T20I series against Australia. Tilak Varma, nevertheless, doesn’t want to think about that and put himself under any strain.
Tilak declared, “My mindset is clear,” the night before the second Twenty20 International in Thiruvananthapuram. “I just want to stay in my role on the team. I have one. I’m not under any pressure to do well or meet any expectations. All I want to do is get started on my part for the team.
“Since I was batting fifth in the previous game, I decided to go for it if it fell inside my arc. If not, I’ll just turn [the strike] around.”
When Tilak left the game in the opening Twenty20 International, India was chasing 209 and needed 75 in 7.3 overs. As he attempted to attack the legspinner once more, he was hit for four consecutive balls by Tanveer Sangha but fell for twelve off ten balls.
“I wanted to take charge against their legspinner because we needed ten per over,” Tilak stated. “I had a clear mentality: if the legspinner is bowling, I’m going to go for it. Surya bhai [Suryakumar Yadav] would counter quick bowlers in the same way. I therefore desired to go for the legspinner after that.”
But India pulled ahead thanks to Suryakumar’s 80 off 42 balls, and Rinku Singh sealed the victory with an undefeated 22 off 14 balls. Like Rinku, Tilak is also interested in finishing games.
His statement, “I like finishing the games,” “Rinku has been doing that really regularly, even for the Indian squad, so I am learning [that] from him. I believe I’ll be doing it in the upcoming games.”
Tilak entered the series fresh off an impressive performance in India’s domestic Twenty20 championship, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. At a strike rate of 143.28 and an average of 96.00, he scored 288 runs in seven innings. His best was a perfect 121 against Baroda, who ended up finishing second.
Additionally, Tilak hopes to “continue the same form” with this series. In addition, he recalls Thiruvananthapuram with “good memories”. He participated in the 50-over Under-19 quadrangular series that was held there in 2019 between Afghanistan, India A, India B, and South Africa.
He amassed 115 runs in three games throughout that series, with a career-high 44 not out. The Thumba Ground hosted two of the games, while Greenfield International Stadium, the site of Sunday’s second Twenty20 International, hosted the third.
“At that time, it was a good, seaming wicket,” he remembered. However, the Kerala wicket typically twists a little and moves more slowly. It may not be as it is now. Today, we’ll take a look and follow the situation.”
India lost to Australia in last week’s ODI World Cup final, despite having won the competition up until that point. However, Tilak does not see this task as a series of paybacks.
“On one bad day we lost, otherwise we had a superb, fantastic World Cup,” he stated. “Beating Australia for that is not my goal. We only want to focus on the fundamentals and play one game at a time.”
