CHENNAI: Two days after Ishan Kishan showcased his class, 23-year-old Tilak Varma delivered a telling statement on Wednesday. Leading South Zone from the front, the left-hander made a resolute 211-ball 99 against a disciplined East Zone attack in the Duleep Trophy final.
South Zone found themselves in deep trouble at 240/6, at the fall of Shreyas Gopal’s wicket, with the momentum swiftly drifting away from them. Tilak, however, anchored the lower order, stitching together a valiant 78-run stand for the seventh wicket with CV Milind.
Just as the partnership looked set to frustrate East Zone further, short-leg fielder Sudip Gharami plucked a sharp reflex catch to send Milind packing. Tilak added another 18 runs with the tail before falling agonisingly one short of three figures, being the last man dismissed as South Zone folded for 336.
“I could have taken my chances earlier, but my mindset was simply to take it session by session,” Tilak said after stumps. “Cricket is a funny game — if we had batted out one more session, you never know where the match could have swung.”
Having already steered South Zone to the summit clash with unbeaten knocks of 116 and 51, Tilak’s red-ball tally now stands at a commanding 266 runs across three innings. Facing an attack featuring Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar only sharpened his resolve.
"I wouldn't necessarily say it [red-ball] cricket comes naturally. But I began my professional journey in red-ball cricket and played for many years with the red ball. Over the past few seasons, I've played a lot of white-ball cricket, but red ball remains my favourite format - it's my A game."
“I always tell everyone that playing red-ball cricket for India is my biggest goal,” he said. “I love the longer format. In fact, growing up, I always envisioned playing Test cricket before white-ball cricket for the country.”
Despite the commanding knock, the Hyderabad batter remains grounded about his evolution in first-class cricket. “You learn something new in every single game. Even when the runs come, I go back, break down my innings, and see where I can tighten up. But considering the quality of their bowling, this innings feels special.”
Leadership is hardly unfamiliar territory for Tilak. Beyond captaining Hyderabad across junior age-group tournaments, he recently led India ‘A’ in the one-day tri-series against Sri Lanka ‘A’ and Afghanistan ‘A’. Reflecting on his time as a leader, he noted: “Conditions won’t always be in your favour, so you have to read the game quickly and figure out which player fits which role best. Backing the right horses in critical moments has been my biggest takeaway as captain.”
Tilak now faces a tight turnaround, with just two days separating this first-class final from India’s opening T20I against Afghanistan in New Delhi. The transition across formats, he insisted, is largely mental.
“I would not say that it is easy [recovering and transitioning in different formats], but we have got a couple of days to practice,” the 23-year-old admitted.
“Many youngsters ask me the same question, ‘How do I change my mindset to different formats?’ When you have practised enough, the switch between formats isn’t that tough. I have done it before as well, where I played Ranji Trophy and then played white-ball series for India.”
With 266 runs in three outings and an appetite for grinding out tough sessions, Tilak has once again underlined that his name belongs firmly in India's red-ball conversations.