If there was one thing on the road, he would’ve batted otherwise

Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik noted that Tilak Varma had no choice but to play out the remaining overs in the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Auckland after the run chase had almost gotten out of hand. The Men in Blue fell 87 runs short while trying to chase down a record score of 260 to suffer their first defeat in the series.

After being put into bat yet again, New Zealand posted the mammoth total on the back of the in-form Glenn Phillips’ 107 off 49 balls and Michael Bracewell’s 65 off 25. Pace spearhead Jacob Duffy removed Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan in the opening over, and India were soon reeling at 61 for 4 by the end of the powerplay.

Tilak Varma, batting at No.7, ran out of batting partners as Arshdeep Singh came into bat as early as the 12th over. The vice-captain scored 35 off 35 balls, with three sixes and one four, and was the top-scorer in India’s reply of 172 for 9 in the run chase. He was caught by Tim Seifert off Matthew Fisher in the penultimate over of the innings. He put on 32 with Naman Dhir and 12 with Prince Yadav, before departing.

Dinesh Karthik opined that Tilak Varma had his hands tied with the unfavorable situation, but feels that he would have made a more practical and impactful effort if the game was not a dead rubber clash.

“When you walk in, and wickets fall, and you end up with only bowlers, then you shut shop at some stage, which is what he did today. At the end of the day, he knew that after a point it was going to be extremely hard. So, he just took it upon himself to try and take the game deep and bat for the sake of batting, and you can’t fault him for that at all. At the end of the day, if there was something on the line, he would’ve batted differently. He would’ve shielded and played a lot more balls, and taken a lot more risks. But he did not do any of it beyond a point, because he knew the whole point was to maybe bat out the 20 overs,” he said on Cricbuzz after India’s loss in the fourth T20I.

Tilak Varma has showcased his finishing abilities in recent times, most recently in the second T20I at Christchurch, where he came into bat at 70 for 5, helping India chase down 181 out of nowhere. However, with the required run rate already touching the 15-run mark at the halfway stage and not many wickets in hand, the southpaw ended up with a timid knock.

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Ambati Rayudu, on the same panel, noted Naman Dhir’s performance as his rise continued with yet another impactful contribution, albeit in a losing cause. The all-rounder made 28 off 13 balls before he had to walk back after a stunning boundary rope catch orchestrated by Daryl Mitchell and Nathan Smith. The MI star was looking in solid touch, smashing four boundaries and batting with a strike rate of 215.38, before his untimely dismissal.

“I just think that Naman Dhir looks really comfortable, both against spin and pace, which is generally not the case with a lot of youngsters getting into international cricket. He looks to be someone that has a lot of talent to become an out-and-out match winner on his own, and also he is bowling well. I just think that he is going to be someone who is going to be persistent not only in T20 cricket but also in ODI cricket going forward,” Rayudu said.

India lead the five-match series 3-1 despite the crushing loss, with the final T20I at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday. The Men in Blue have secured their third straight T20I series win in the country after their 5-0 and 1-0 success in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

Edited by Gokul Nair