New Delhi, Jan 26 Following his match-winning 72 not out helping India take a 2-0 lead in the ongoing series against England, India’s top-order batter Tilak Varma reflected on the pressure-filled final overs of the chase, saying he always had it in his mind to play till the end and win the match.
Chasing 166 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, England reduced India to 78/5 and then 126/7, but Tilak hanged around to hit a brilliant 55-ball 72 not out, laced with four boundaries and five sixes. His superb efforts took India home with four balls to spare and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
"Gautam sir told me in the last innings that when you need 10 runs in an over, you can do that too. When you need 7-8 runs, your role is very crucial. So, you need to stay till the end. No matter how you play, let the non-striker score. Your job is to get one or two boundaries in an over and take singles.”
“If you stay till the end, we win the game. He told me this in the last match as well. And even today, during the drinks break, he told me, no matter what happens, you need to play till the end. So, I had it in my mind that I would play till the end. And I believed that I would win the match," said Tilak to broadcasters Star Sports at the conclusion of the game.
In the last few T20I games, Tilak has been in blistering form for India, including hitting back-to-back centuries on tour of South Africa last year. "I have worked on my strike rate. My forward game is good. If I hit a run on the pick-up shot or the bouncer, then it will be very difficult for the bowler. So, I have worked a lot on this. My strike rate has also increased, and you can see that I am getting good results," he added.
The left-handed batter also revealed what was going through his mind when wickets were falling at the other end, and the thought process while batting with Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi, who hit precious boundaries in acing the run chase. "Actually, I was under a lot of pressure. Arshdeep was saying, 'I will hit it. I will hit it. I have to give a single.' So, I thought, on this wicket, Archer can't get you out. On this wicket, Adil Rashid will shine because his ball was moving a lot.”
“I knew that Arshdeep would try to hit the spinner. I said, 'No, bhai.' If Arshdeep wanted to play, he should play Archer. He said he wouldn't play Archer, so I said, 'Okay, I will play.' I told him to be ready with his defence. 'Whether you get a bouncer or not, you just have to stop him. If you see him behind, bend down.' So, I don't know what he did.”
“He said, 'If I get a bouncer, I will hit him from above.' He said a lot of things. But whatever happened, I am happy that he got a boundary off Archer. And the best thing to see was Ravi Bishnoi's batting. He has done a very good job in nets. He and Varun Chakravarthy did a very good job in batting. I had a lot of faith in both of them that they could play.”
“I told them, 'If you want to hit, you have to hit in the gaps. If you get a single, there is no problem. If you want to bend down on the bouncer, you have to play like Test cricket.' So, actually, Ravi Bishnoi played well. If you see, he hit a flick from the front. A lot of credit goes to him too. Actually, those two fours were very important," he concluded.
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