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Tilak Varma helped India win the second T20I against England by 2 wickets, scoring 72 runs, matching his jersey number. Ravi Bishnoi’s crucial boundary also eased the chase.
Tilak Varma scored an unbeaten 72 to help India take the win. (Image: Sportzpics)
The spotlight was on India’s star middle-order batter, Tilak Varma who helped India complete the chase to win the second T20I against England by 2 wickets to extend their series lead in the ongoing five-match affair.
Varma, in a video interview shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), opened up about how he was keen on helping the side by finishing off games and expressed his pleasure in being able to do so in the T20I that took place in Chennai.
I love finishing games. Before South Africa, when I got opportunities, I was doing well, but I wasn’t able to finish the games. So I thought, this is a good opportunity, I’ll put my faith in my game plan and play,” Varma said.
While Tilak was keeping the scoring rate in check from one end, it took some quick runs by the lower order. Ravi Bishnoi in particular scored a crucial boundary under pressure. The leg-spinner had a hilarious take to his brief cameo in the middle.
Bishnoi shared, “I posted a story on Instagram today, why should batters have all the fun? I got a chance today, so I had some fun too. First tell me how did you like my batting today? I loved it”.
“No, I’ve been practising for a long time. You can’t see it, but I’m the one practising,” he added.
Even Tilak had to step in and tell his batting partner to calm down and give him the chance to finish the game off. But the southpaw admitted that Bishnoi’s boundary certainly made his life easier when it came to the final over of the innings.
“He hit it like a proper batsman. I told him to stop it. I’ll finish it from the other end. You can see, he hit Livingstone for a boundary and made the game a little easier for me,” Tilak shared.
The Mumbai Indians batter has been in scintillating form recently and he credited his preparations ahead of each match as the reason for outstanding form, while he had confidence in his game right from the start.
“I always maintain a good process and hard work. The rest is not in my hands. The process is in my hands. The confidence I have that from the beginning itself,” he commented.
Another coincidence the young left-hander came across was that the score he had amassed was the same number as his jersey number as well.
“So again, when I finished the game, I celebrated. My number is 72. The score is also 72. I was thinking about finishing the game. So after the match, I saw that my score was 72. And my jersey number is also 72,” he concluded.
