Tilak Verma played a match-winning innings for India in the second T20I against England in Chennai. From a potentially losing position, his unbeaten 72 off 55 balls took India past the finishing line in Chennai.
The southpaw was a cool and composed figure through the tricky chase. India chasing 166 to win were in trouble early on. They were 78/5 inside the first 10 overs after the fall of Hardik Pandya's wicket.
Washington Sundar then played a cameo of 26 runs and added a 38-run stand. After Sundar's dismissal, Tilak had to farm the strike which he did beautifully. India required 13 off 12 balls which came down to six from six balls. The southpaw hit a four through covers to win the match for his side with four balls to spare.
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Sanjay Manjrekar On Tilak Varma
Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar while speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, compared his calmness to that of MS Dhoni who during his tenure as player and captain finished countless matches for Team India.
"Absolutely. The confidence he has that he will be able to see India through the very end and even in this run chase, there was no panic around the 18th over. Even in the 19th over, you could see that India wasn't getting the boundary that could take the pressure off. But he was quite happy to virtually be there till the end. It seems the guy who is confident and being the man who can take his team through, just like we had a legend in the past in the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had the same confidence. So, when you have a player like him, batting at No.3, he might be taking on that role, which is not such a bad thing," Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.
The left-handed batter who made his international debut for India in 2023, scored two back to back centuries in the T20I series against South Africa in November. He has been consistently scoring runs for the team as well. After the match, Tilak reflected on the pressure-filled final overs of the chase, saying he always had it in his mind to play till the end.
"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" Tilak told the broadcasters after the match.
The third India vs England T20I will be played on January 28 in Rajkot. The hosts have a chance to seal the series with a win.
