Former India player Aakash Chopra has lauded Tilak Varma for playing an aggressive knock in the second T20I against Zimbabwe. He noted that the Indian vice-captain has been trolled a lot and questions have been raised repeatedly about his place in the team.
Tilak smashed an unbeaten 60 off 29 balls as India set Zimbabwe a 220-run target in Harare on Saturday, July 25. The visitors then bowled out the hosts for 129 to register a 90-run win and seal the three-match series 2-0 ahead of the final game at the same venue a day later.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter praised Tilak for silencing his critics with a crucial knock.
“If the team had to reach 219, Tilak Varma’s contribution was necessary. You would turn back and say it’s Zimbabwe. A guy can only score runs against whichever team is there in front of him. Batting down the order is not easy. He tries to accelerate. He is doing his bit, and a little patience is required,” Chopra said.
“It won’t work out if we ask for a player to be dropped after every series. From that point of view, this Tilak Varma knock was a slight reminder of sorts that a little more confidence should be shown in him. He has been trolled a lot as to why he has been kept in the team. He is doing his job, and he is doing a difficult job,” he added.
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Tilak Varma is batting in the lower-middle order based on the team’s requirement. He pointed out that although Tilak’s best might come at No. 3, Ishan Kishan is better suited to bat at that number and that the wicketkeeper-batter cannot play at No. 5.
“When you play aggressively, you don’t play for milestones” – Aakash Chopra lauds Ishan Kishan’s knock in ZIM vs IND 2026 2nd T20I
In the same video, Aakash Chopra lauded Ishan Kishan for scoring a belligerent 44-ball 81 and for continuing to bat aggressively and not looking to play for a hundred.
“When two players get out early, it becomes slightly difficult. However, Ishan Kishan came after that, and he was looking very good for a century. 17 balls were still left when he got out. However, when you play aggressively, you don’t play for milestones. You think less about them. You only think about maximizing, and that is exactly what Ishan Kishan was doing,” he said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that he would have wanted Rinku Singh to be sent at No. 3 had the openers stitched together a big partnership and that Kishan had to be sent once Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a run-a-ball eight.
“Had we had a good opening partnership, I would have asked Ishan not to be sent and Rinku to be sent instead because you have selected him and not given him chances thus far. However, when two early wickets fell, you had to send Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer had to come because it was a rebuilding stage. So Ishan Kishan came and hit so much, and said, ‘This is my time,'” Chopra observed.
Ishan Kishan added 66 runs for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer (25 off 20) after India had been reduced to 29/2. The No. 3 batter and Tilak Varma then stitched together a 94-run fourth-wicket partnership to ensure the Men in Blue posted a mammoth total.
Edited by Kartik Iyer
