NEW DELHI: India all-rounder Tilak Varma made a spirited comeback from injury with an impressive performance and an emotional message of gratitude after the defending champions beat South Africa by 30 runs in their T20 World Cup warm-up match at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!Fresh from rehabilitation, Tilak admitted that he did not expect to be back in action so soon and thanked the BCCI and the Center of Excellence (CoE) for speeding up his recovery. “To be honest, I didn’t expect to be back on the field so soon. I am really thankful to the CoE and BCCI. I always say that playing in the World Cup is my biggest dream,” he said in a video shared by BCCI.
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Walking into a packed stadium chanting his name left the youngster emotional. “When I stepped on the ropes and everyone was shouting ‘Tilak, Tilak’, I felt really comfortable. It gave me a lot of encouragement,” he added, describing the electric atmosphere even during the warm-up match.Inspired by the aggressive intent around him, Tilak said the team’s batting energy made him play freely. “The way Ishan was batting, the way Abhishek was going and everyone, I was also thinking, ‘Mai bhi maarunga jaake.’ The atmosphere was really great and yes – Tilak and the Indian team are ready for the World Cup,” he said.On the field, Tilak backed up his words with a blistering 45 off 19 balls as India piled up 240 for five, building on Ishan Kishan’s explosive start. The bowlers then held their nerve to restrict South Africa to 210, securing a confident victory.In a perfectly timed comeback, Tilak’s return has injected new energy into India’s campaign as they focus on Saturday’s World Cup opener against the USA.
