MATCH STORY
Follow UsTilak Varma might have been retained by Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 8 crore, which showed the franchise's trust in him. MI are no strangers to grooming top talents, with Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya being prime examples. The way they have handled Tilak is pretty much on the same lines.
However, playing at No. 3 was unchartered territory of sorts for Tilak, who has batted in that position just twice in the IPL. He came out to bat after just two deliveries of the match in Centurion, and with Abhishek Sharma (50) going great guns at the other end, he was happy to pay second-fiddle. He scored just 27 off his first 20 deliveries, watching Abhishek scoring a fifty off just 28 deliveries.
"We both [him and Abhishek Sharma] were under pressure. Today's knocks are important for us," he said after his innigs.
Once Tilak was set, though, there was no looking back.
This is in stark contrast to how he batted at the ACC Emerging T20 Asia Cup in Oman, where he anchored the innings on most occasions when India had lost an early wicket. As a result, he managed just 117 runs at a strike rate of 120.61.
It was perhaps an indication that Tilak was earmarked for a bigger role. He not only led the side in the Emerging Asia Cup but was also entrusted at No. 3. However, on a much better batting surface at the SuperSport Park, better than it was in Muscat, Tilak batted at three for the ninth time for the senior side and finally made an impact there.
Previously, in his eight innings at three, he had scored 120 runs at 20 at a strike rate of 129.03.
He came ahead of skipper Suryakumar Yadav in this game and that too off the second ball of the match. To lose someone like Surya so early in an innings seemed to be an utter waste of such a useful resource.
That's where the 22-year-old Tilak was thrown in the deep end and he responded, getting to his ton off 51 deliveries. He played every shot in the book, especially against the spinners, against whom he had a strike rate of 221.
With Virat Kohli having retired from T20Is, India are on the lookout to deepen their options at three. Rishabh Pant is certainly the top contender for that position, but who do India realistically have other than him and potentially Surya? You'll have to scratch your head to figure that out.
Kohli has over 3,000 runs at three for India, and it will take some doing for anyone in the world to replicate it, let alone anyone from India, but a long-term option certainly needs to be looked at. There is a chance that Tilak may not find a place in the Indian XI when a full-fledged side plays next, but they will walk out of this series knowing that they have found a suitable backup.
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