Raaj Tilak: India Captain corrects his mistake in Sri Lanka

In his first captaincy assignment, Tilak Varma briefly lost control of his ship. Leading the India A side in Dambulla, Tilak’s team lost their cool, culminating in an ugly post-match brawl where his 15-year-old opening batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi ended up in a physical altercation with the Sri Lankan team.

Sooryavanshi, who is only 15 years old, attacked the pick of the opposition players who celebrated wildly after the hosts beat India in a controversial Super Over. Driven by the raw emotions of the moment, Vaibhav ended up pushing the Sri Lankan player and had to be physically pulled out of the fray by his teammate and batting partner Suryansh Shedge.

For cricketers like Tilak, who is considered to be the future leader of the Indian team, the incident was a huge stain. While Tilak was not the one throwing punches, his own actions fanned the fire. His animated, furious gestures at the referees on the pitch during the closing stages of the game allowed the team to get over the mood and set the stage for the chaos that erupted after the final whistle.

Social networks quickly crucified the young party. Former Indian dough Sanjay Manjrekar led calls for strict disciplinary actiondemanding that Sooryavanshi be dropped for the next must-win match against Afghanistan A.

“If I were the coach or manager of India A, I would have left Vaibhav Suryavanshi in this match against AFG. Just to let him know that it is not okay to go physical on the field. Whatever the provocations,” Manjrekar wrote on X.

But Sanjay Manjrekar is 60. Tilak Varma is 23. The impressionable minds of this ultra-young Indian team were brought up on an entirely different competitive philosophy: ‘Ye naya Hindustan hai. He will enter the house and kill as well.

Ten years ago, such a brawl might have flown under the radar. But with modern broadcast cameras capturing every inch of grass, there was nowhere to hide. Conventional cricketing wisdom would suggest that you drop the volatile teenager to protect the establishment’s “reputation” – send him to the sidelines for punishment.

The conversation in the locker room was perhaps about learning from bad experiences, taking ownership of their actions and taking responsibility for making sure the incident doesn’t happen again.

But this was not a match where wrongs would be easily righted.

Still, righting those wrongs on the field is never an easy task. When a disciplinary blot is added to the dreaded brink of elimination from the tournament, things can go wrong really fast, really soon. India went into the next match against Afghanistan A with a heavy burden of back-to-back defeats.

But Tilak kept his nerve.

With the bat, India put up a decent show scoring 319 runs. Tilak anchored in the middle overs and forged a 104-run partnership with Kumar Kushagra. The captain eventually got to 59 in the 44th over as India were 271 runs, another 300+ score. Tilak Varma hits a calm knock to score a fifty for India A (PTI Photo)

A GAME CHANGING MOVE

The real test for Tilak awaited in the second innings where he had to manage his bowlers, his fielders and above all his own temperament. Things weren’t perfect, but he made a fantastic move that completely disrupted the game.

Just after the 20th over, when Afghanistan A had two of their best batsmen on the field, Tilak bowled from both sides. The move helped India A break 87 runs between Faisal Shinozada and Bahir Shah, who looked extremely comfortable in the game.

Shinozada, one of the most prolific scorers in Asia, gave Anukul Roy the lead. Once the partnership was broken, Tilak slipped, pulled back at long-on and asked Bahir Shah to hit hard through leg. Shah put his foot in the trap and paid the price. The poor shot went straight to long on where Suryansh Shedge was waiting for it.

One of the main differences was the Indian catch where they threw their bodies around to get some impressive catches. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ashok Sharma and Priyansh Arya created half-chances to sink Afghanistan to a 101-run defeat.

You can’t do that if you haven’t been gathered. It could have been Tilak, it could have been someone else, but India looked motivated today. From the brink of elimination, India A stormed to the final of the tri-series and it is an achievement that Tilak should be proud of.

At 23, Tilak remains one of the mainstays in the Bombay Indians camp. The way he walks, the way he talks and the way he reacts to the umpire has a mix of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya in him.

Against Sri Lanka on Monday, it was a bit more passionate, wilder and bordering on recklessness. Against Afghanistan yesterday, it was far more Rohit’s way, calm, calculated and tactically commanding, retaining just a bit of that necessary Hardikian edge.

Tilak is not quite clear about his own identity yet, but he will find it in time. Through trial by fire, leadership emerges from these giant shadows and eventually emerges as the first real Tilak.

What we saw on Monday was the messy, unfiltered reality of a young Indian team refusing to back down. But what we saw on Wednesday was the birth of a captain who knows how to channel that aggression into a winning formula. Leaders are not born in peaceful waters; they are forged when things go completely wrong. By restoring sanity and delivering a tactical masterclass on the field, Tilak not only saved India A from elimination – he proved that he can control the fire with which his team plays.

The chaotic, victorious steps we witnessed in Dambulla are just the beginning. “Raaj Tilak” has officially begun.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

18 Jun 2026 14:41 IST