NEW DELHI: India’s title defense roared back to life with an impressive 72-run victory over Zimbabwe, with a fearless message from Tilak Varma at the heart of the statement victory: “We want to show fear to the opposition.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!Coming in at number six in a high-pressure encounter, Tilak smashed an unbeaten 44 off just 16 balls to hit a staggering 275.00. The knock, laced with three fours and four sixes, helped India post the highest total of this T20 World Cup – 256/4 – and kept their semi-final hopes alive.
India keep T20 World Cup dream alive, now to Kolkata
Marked as India’s number three for most of the tournament, Tilak endured a lean patch. With a strike rate hovering around 118 in his previous five innings and a visible struggle against spin on the slow surface, questions began to arise about his role. But at Chepauk, he flipped the narrative in style.“I always say whatever the team needs, I’m all for it,” Tilak said in a post-match press conference. “For the last four years, I have done the same role in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, switching between the setter and the batsman. I have also done that in a few games for India. I can adapt according to the situation.”He added: “As I said earlier, I was only waiting for one innings. I am really thankful to God for that. I am now quite confident that I can win matches for the team in the future.” India’s aggressive template was evident from the start. “Sanju got off to a great start tonight,” remarked Tilak, praising the openers for setting the tone. “We discussed that no matter what the situation is – even if we lose three or four wickets in the power play – we will bat with the same rhythm. We want to show the opposition fear that these guys are ready to hit every ball.”Tilak admitted that the team was closely watching South Africa’s dominant win over West Indies in Ahmedabad knowing clean run scenarios could come into play. “We all watched the game. But as individuals and as a team we felt it was important for us to win,” he said.“If you play good cricket, the run rate automatically improves. We needed our cricket to be good. If our cricket is good, then God help us in the tournament.”
