Although Tilak Varma’s tenacious batting in each of the four league games of the T20 World Cup has drawn praise, captain Suryakumar Yadav rejected calls to replace him, stating that the team management has directed him to bat the way he does.
Due to his struggles against slow bowlers on grounds where the ball is gripping a bit more, Tilak, whose career strike-rate is 141+, has seen it drop to the 120s.
With just 11 boundaries and three sixes to his name in four games, Tilak hasn’t been able to change gears like his captain Suryakumar, who also occasionally drops anchor.
“I mean I have told him, the team management has told him that he has to bat that way. If one wicket is down, then he is definitely, he can go and have his own game in the powerplay. But as soon as two wickets are down, then he has to take a little bit of backseat, get a partnership again, get to the 10th over and then we have enough firepower to continue and take on the bowling,” PTI quoted the Indian skipper describing the strategy’s justification, even though it wasn’t particularly persuasive.
However, Suryakumar stated that even Tilak has raised his own expectations.
“Definitely I am sure he must not be happy with how he is batting right now, I am sure. He must be and he has practised a lot as well in the last 2-3 practice sessions. But I don’t have any concern regarding him. He has been delivering for India at No. 3 really well and I’m very confident that he will do it better.”
Remarks that there might be a chance to replace Tilak with Sanju Samson were literally laughed off by Suryakumar.
“You mean, I should make him (Samson) play for Tilak?,” he laughed. “It’s going well in powerplay. We’re making 40-50 runs. That’s normal cricket. Now we’ve played so well in bi-laterals. It happens. We also have expectations from ourself. Expectation to make 220, 240, 250,” he said.
“But wickets are a little different here. The four wickets we have played on so far were a little different and challenging. Off-spinners were not bowling earlier but are bowling now. So we have started preparation for that and hopefully we will tackle it as we start our Super 8 journey.”
Suryakumar, on the other hand, is quite happy with his bowling unit, which keeps the team in the game even when the score is between 175 and 180.
“I do take a lot of pride in my bowling unit. I know that on a given day, if we ever make 170, 175, or 180 because of the high risk, high reward game we are trying to play, then we have a good bowling attack which can save the match, it can win that game,” he said.
“Look, I never thought that this team will make scores like 250, 270, 220, 230. But the way we’re playing cricket now, you’ll see in the future, if you see a start, then after that, everyone bats with the same template. But the day you don’t get a start, that day you have to think about what the team needs.”
The ‘Law of Averages’ catching up to a well-oiled team was one question that was bound to come up, and Suryakumar didn’t want to consider it.
“We don’t think about it that much. Like I said, we try to stay in the present. We win so many games, but that is history now. And if you think about which game you’re playing on that given day, if you think about that, it’s not easy, it’s difficult. Because sometimes when you play good cricket, then from here and there, like you said, law of average, you can hear the voice. But, it’s okay, but we try to avoid that thing a little bit,” the skipper concluded.
