Rain and wet outfield cost us the game: Tilak Varma

It is not a common sight to see both the Indian openers depart for a duck, but Tuesday (December 12) was one such occasion when both Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to get off the mark. 

QuickByte: In T20Is, this is only the second innings in which both Indian openers have suffered ducks.

The other one came against Pakistan in 2016 (Rohit Sharma & Ajinkya Rahane). #SAvIND

— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) December 12, 2023

However, the middle-order - Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh - ensured that India never stepped the foot off the peddle, with 56, 29 and 68* respectively - in the clash. Rinku, in particular, batted on a different surface, with nine boundaries and two sixes in his knock. 

But rain and wet outfield lopsided the game in the batters’ favour, and hence, when India walked out to defend the total, it was all towel. In the post-match press conference, Tilak pointed out that the conditions of play in the second innings cost the Men in Blue the encounter. 

"I feel in the powerplay, we gave a bit [of] extra runs, but after that we came back strongly, But due to the wet outfield, the ball was not gripping as we thought. But actually we batted well,” Tilak said at his post-match press conference. 

"It's always good to play in South Africa; it's quite challenging. We are well-prepared for these conditions, and we have actually batted well in a tough situation. The openers didn't do too well today but after that Surya, myself and Rinku got good rhythm in the batting side and we scored well. But due to the rain and wet outfield..."

The conditions weren’t tailor-made for the batters in the first innings with the ball hobbling and moving away from the Indian batters early on in the innings, as evident from Gill’s dismissal. If that wasn’t enough, the ball gripped more than usual during the middle-overs, making life tough for the Indian batters. 

"I feel the wicket was a bit on the slower side when we batted, especially with the new ball it was slightly seaming," Tilak said. "After that, it was gripping a bit and spinning a bit when Markram and Shamsi were bowling. So the spell that Markram and Shamsi bowled went their way. I think it was a good spell from them. Otherwise, we could have reached 200 or 200-plus."

India have had varied conditions to tackle over the last year in T20 cricket, with matches in West Indies, Ireland and notably against Australia at home before they arrived in South Africa. Tilak compares the wickets in South Africa to the ones in Ireland, stating that there was a bit of ‘bounce’ and seam. 

"For every series, I was preparing to the conditions," Tilak said. "If you see, West Indies was a bit on the slower side, and if you see Ireland, [the pitches] were similar to South Africa wickets, it was a bit bouncy and seaming a bit. We were preparing according to the [conditions] and we are India. So, it has been a great experience and great learning going through."

While winning the series is no longer an option for the Men in Blue, they would come out hard in the third T20I at the Wanderers Stadium in a bid to level the series 1-1.