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Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin hailed Tilak Varma following a calm and composed knock in a tense run chase against New Zealand in the second T20I, while also expressing hope that he gets to play Test cricket for India as well.
Tilak Varma's love affair with run chases and death overs batting continued as he and Nitish Kumar Reddy pulled Team India out of troubled waters, stitching a 69-run stand to chase down 181 runs with a ball to spare at Christchurch. Once again while batting in the middle-order, Tilak brought his game awareness and ball striking, calculated acceleration while chasing. Speaking to ANI after the match, Azharuddin, one of the finest cricketers to emerge out of Hyderabad, said, "Today, I am very happy with the way Tilak Varma has played. He is a very good player, and I sincerely hope and pray that he gets the opportunity to play Test cricket. For me, Test cricket is the most important format, and I hope he goes on to represent India in Tests as well. He has been performing very well in T20 cricket, and I think he played a crucial role in ensuring India's victory today. Congratulations to the team. Cricket is a team game, and the entire team deserves to be congratulated. I wish them the very best of luck." In first-class cricket, Tilak has fine numbers, having made 1,828 runs in 25 matches and 38 innings, with an average of 57.12, five centuries and seven fifties, including a best score of 121. Coming to the match, India won the toss and elected to bowl first. They had New Zealand down 41/3 within the powerplay. Glenn Phillips (70 in 46 balls, with four boundaries and sixes each) and Bevon Jacobs (58 in 46 balls, with five fours and a six) led New Zealand's recovery after an early top-order collapse against India after Kiwis were down 41/3 within powerplay, stitching a 116-run stand for the fourth wicket, taking NZ to 180/5 in 20 overs. Besides Arshdeep's 2/33, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy got a wicket each. While chasing 181 set by New Zealand, the world champions collapsed from 40/0 to 112/6, with Mitchell Santner's four-fer causing havoc in the middle overs. The hope was reinstated by a quickfire 31 in 17 balls (with a four and three sixes) by Naman Dhir, and it was Tilak (51* in 26 balls, with six fours and a six) and Nitish (26* in 13 balls, with a four and a six) who took India to victory with a ball left. India is 2-0 up in the five-match series. (ANI)
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