"I'm Learning From Rinku Singh" - Tilak Varma

The 21-year-old India National Cricket Team left-handed batsman Tilak Varma has said that he is learning a lot from Rinku Singh and is trying to emulate the consistency shown by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batsman.

Rinku Singh, who is considered one of the most exciting prospects in Indian cricket, has scored 97 runs in 6 T20I appearances at an average of 97.00 and a strike rate of 194.00, which was decreased from 200 despite his match-winning six against Australia on the last ball in the first T20I as it turned out to be a no-ball.

Rinku will be next seen in action alongside Tilak Varma when India take on Australia in the second T20I of the five-match series on Sunday. Speaking at a pre-match press conference, Tilak Varma said that he wanted to emulate the consistency shown by Rinku. He stated:

“I like finishing the games but I am learning from Rinku. He is doing very consistently for India. I also want to do the same. So, I think in coming matches I will be looking to do that.”

Tilak Varma, who failed in the first game, said that his mindset in the last game was to take on the spinner as the required rate demanded it. He said:

“My mindset was like, in that situation, the leg spinner was bowling, so I want to take charge because we want 10 per over in that situation,” Tilak explained in the pre-match press conference.

I was confident that he could finish against the fast bowlers – Tilak Varma on Suryakumar Yadav

Tilak Varma further said that he decided to take the chance against the leg-spinner as he was confident that Suryakumar Yadav was settled very well in the middle and he would finish the game. He said:

“So at that time, my mindset was clear. If the leg spinner is bowling, I’ll go after him. So for fast bowlers, settled batter and captain Surya bhai [Suryakumar Yadav] was batting. I was confident that he could finish against the fast bowlers. So especially that over I want to charge the leg spinner.”

Tilak Varma added that his sole focus remains on fulfilling his role in the team and he doesn’t take any added pressure. He said:

“My mindset is simple. As I said before, I have got a role in the team. So I just want to stick to that role and I’ll be clear with my mindset.

“I don’t have any pressure like expectation doing well and all. So I just have my role. So I just fulfill my role for the team. So that is what I’m just looking forward to.”