Tilak Varma has two blistering centuries to his name in India colours, but his unbeaten 72 on Saturday may just have been his best innings yet.
Coming into the tour of South Africa last November, Tilak Varma had a decent, perhaps not outstanding, record in T20 international cricket – 15 innings and 336 runs, at an average of 33.6 thanks in large part to five not outs (including 55* against a second-string Bangladesh outfit at the 2023 Asian Games). He struck a shade below 140, with 29 fours and 16 sixes to his name.
In the six innings since then, he's more than doubled his run tally and his six count, almost doubled the four count, and overtaken his then-high score three times. He hasn't been dismissed in his last four innings, scoring an eye-popping 318 runs in them.
Tilak's back-to-back centuries in at Centurion and Johannesburg have been the highlight of this run, scored at strike rates of 191 and 255 with belligerence of the highest order. In those knocks, he personified the new-age approach of this Indian team, that has turned them into perhaps the most fearsome international side in this format.
But at Chepauk on Saturday, what he showcased was arguably even more special.
The target, 166, was middling. Given the way India chased 133 in Kolkata, one could be forgiven for thinking they'd wrap this up with similar ease. But the hero of that night, Abhishek Sharma, was dismissed nine balls into the chase, bringing Tilak to the crease.
Match 2nd T20I, India vs England
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Just one over later, Sanju Samson was gone as well, worked over by Jofra Archer. But Tilak was unfazed. Similar to the English approach in the first innings, he looked to make full use of the powerplay, and picked his battle immaculately.
The fifth over of the innings was the highlight. Facing up to Archer, he first exposed all three stumps to slash the fast bowler over point for four. The next ball was even more audacious – planting his front foot, Tilak almost nonchalantly swept a delivery at 150.3 kmph over fine leg, sending it out of the ground. On commentary, Ravi Shastri was quick to call it the shot of the match.
Two balls later, when Archer went short, Tilak aimed for the boundary behind the wicketkeeper – it flew off the edge for six, but that was enough. On a wicket which didn't have much help for the fast bowlers, it was a case of the faster you come, the faster you go.
But even as the run rate sustained, India began to lose wickets at the other end. In the space of four overs, Brydon Carse's pace beat Suryakumar Yadav, and bounce did for Dhruv Jurel as well as Hardik Pandya. Halfway through the innings, they'd lost half their side, with 87 runs still required.
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Between overs 10 and 15, Tilak mellowed, scoring 13 runs off 12 balls with only one boundary – perhaps inadvisable if India were batting first, but with the batting resources thinning after Washington Sundar and Axar Patel departed in quick succession, and the target in mind, rather forced upon him.
Tilak took on Archer once again in the 16th over, getting himself two sixes as a 19-run over tilted the scales firmly in India's favour. England's star pacer conceded 60 runs in his four overs, his most expensive spell in all T20 cricket. 30 of those came off the nine balls he bowled to Tilak, who said in the post-match press conference that he "wanted to take [down] England's best bowlers".
Once the equation was less than a run-a-ball, Tilak held up an end. In the last four overs, India's No.10 Ravi Bishnoi hit two boundaries, and Tilak just one – the winning shot, when India needed four more from five balls.
On a larger scale, Tilak's batting over the last three months or so may have given us a glimpse into the new age of India's top-order T20 batting. Virat Kohli was India's flag-bearer at No.3 over the last decade or so, but despite his masterful ability to complete run chases, doubts lingered in the back half of his career over whether his batting approach while setting a target was suitable for the times.
Tilak has shown promise in finding the ideal balance. His record so far in T20Is provides that indication – batting first, he strikes at 165 and has been unbeaten in four out of 12 innings. In chases, he strikes nearly 20 points lower (144), but has remained not out on five out of nine occasions. Each time, India have won. In fact, in all T20 cricket, Tilak has remained not out in a run chase 16 times – and always ended up on the winning side.
Here, it's also hard to ignore the romanticism of what was a coming-of-age knock – at the ground where Suresh Raina, Tilak's idol and the player he's been most compared to, won countless matches in the yellow of Chennai Super Kings.
His standout knocks so far had been defined by the exuberance of youth. At 22 years old, he resembles more rockstar than cricketer (although the two can be easily confused in India) – shiny studs in both ears, and an overgrown mullet-esque hairstyle that wouldn't be out of place even 30 years ago.
But that exterior belies Tilak's display in the Chepauk chase, which was a masterful display of maturity beyond his years, in a continued confluence of contrasts. The old world charm often associated with Hyderabad, his hometown, sits starkly against the glitz and glamour of Mumbai – the city and IPL franchise – where he spends two months of the year.
In a pre-match video posted by the BCCI, Tilak had said in reference to India's two players from Chennai, "Varun, subah subah ek crispy dosa chahiye, breakfast ke liye, aur shaam ko Washi ka ghar mein dinner chahiye. (Varun, I want a crispy dosa in the morning for breakfast, and in the evening I want dinner at Washi's house.)"
We don't know if he got what he wanted. But by the looks of things, dessert was on Tilak – and he delivered spectacularly.
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