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The Men in Blue defeated South Africa by 30 runs in their solitary warm-up game on Wednesday before the T20 World Cup title defence starts off against the USA from Saturday.
Tilak Varma was one of the star performers of the night, scoring 45 runs in 19 balls with a splendid strike rate of 236.84 before being dismissed by Marco Jansen on the last ball of the 11th over. He recently suffered a testicular injury and underwent successful surgery, and was recovering at BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE). His return has been great so far, scoring 34 of 28 balls against the USA in the first warm-up match for India A and a stunning innings of 45 of 19 balls at a blitzing strike rate of 236.84 vs the Proteas, with three fours and sixes each. Tilak did not expect a full recovery this quickly and credited BCCI and CoE for it, adding that it is a dream come true for him to play in the World Cup. He was amazed by the crowd's response towards him and is looking forward to playing the World Cup and contributing his part to help the indian team lift the T20 World Cup trophy for a record third time, inspired by the intent shown by a red-hot Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma. "I did not expect to be back on the field this early. Really thankful for CoE and bcci. I always said that my biggest dream is to play the World Cup. The way I entered the rope, everyone was shouting my name. I did not expect that, so it felt really nice and gave me a boost as I was going in. The way Ishan and Abhishek were batting, I decided to play aggressively. I did not expect a full crowd. It's just a warm-up game, but the craze is amazing and really thanks to everyone. The vibe was terrific today, and Tilak and Indian team is ready for the World Cup," said Tilak as per a video posted on BCCI's channel. Tilak has to fill the massive shoes of Virat Kohli at the crucial number four position, which the run machine occupied for more than a decade, and in his small sample size, he has been really fine. In the 15 T20I matches at number three, he has scored 542 runs with a brilliant average of 60.22 and a splendid strike rate of 160.83. He has hit 2 centuries and three fifties so far, with both tons coming in the series against South Africa on their home conditions. The Indian team is in red-hot form in T20Is; the reigning champions have won all bilateral T20I series and the Asia Cup since their 2024 T20 World Cup victory. The Blues will enter the World Cup as favourites. They will kick off their campaign against the USA on Saturday at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. (ANI)
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