India T20I captain Suryakumar says Varma has ‘walked the talk’ after series triumph

JOHANNESBURG: India skipper Suryakumar Yadav has hailed Tilak Varma for “walking the talk”, as the youngster unlocked his potential as India’s new No. 3 batter with sensational back-to-back centuries that powered its 3-1 T20 International series triumph in South Africa.

Various batters have been tried out in recent times for the crucial position once owned by Virat Kohli, with the team think-tank even experimenting with Rishabh Pant during the T20 World Cup, albeit with little success.

Since then, players like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have all had stints at No. 3 before skipper Suryakumar Yadav took over the role.

However, after being entrusted with the crucial No. 3 spot in the last two T20Is of the series, the 22-year-old Varma has firmly grabbed the position with both hands.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who sacrificed his spot for the Mumbai Indians all-rounder, couldn’t agree more.

“It was actually running in my mind that there has been a time when one man has batted consistently at No. 3 and has done wonders for India,” Suryakumar told reporters after India’s huge 135-run win in the fourth T20I that completed its 3-1 series triumph.

“So, this was a perfect opportunity for a young guy, definitely for him, who is showing a lot of promise. We both actually spoke to each other and he took up the responsibility. He just walked the talk. The way he batted at SuperSport and here was incredible. Hope he continues, not only in T20s but in all formats.”

In an aggressive batting display, India posted a huge 283 for 1, the fifth-highest total in men’s T20Is.

Tilak finished with an unbeaten 120 off 47 balls, while opener Sanju Samson, after two ducks in the last two games, slammed 109 not out off 56 to make it three hundreds in five outings.

Together, they hammered 210 runs off 86 balls for the second wicket -- the highest T20I partnership for India for any wicket.

“Even before (winning) the T20I WC, we played a few T20Is. We spoke about what brand and what type of cricket we wanted to play going forward,” Suryakumar said.

“We play IPL for different franchises, but when we come together, we wanted to do the same thing we do for our franchise, be on the same page, and play a different brand of cricket. Post T20I WC, we just followed the same thing we did there.”

The victory underlined India’s new-found dominance in T20I cricket, even after the retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja and especially without many of the regulars like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill.

Brief scores: India 283/1 in 20 overs (S Samson 109*, T Varma 120*) bt South Africa 148 in 18.2 overs (T Stubbs 43, A Singh 3/20)