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Captain's knock by Tilak Varma. He flicked the ball on the leg side off Gurnoor Brar for a boundary and completed his hundred in the semi-finals of the ongoing Duleep Trophy. Varma completed his hundred as the number eleven batter on the other end of the wicket.
Ahead of the IPL 2027 and the Asian Games, when speculations are growing rapidly around Tilak Varma to see him in a leadership role in the near future, the middle-order batter proved his mettle yet again. The century against North Zone proved he has the potential to perform well with extra responsibility on his shoulders.
Tilak Varma records a century in Duleep Trophy as a captain
Varma touched the 100-run mark only a few moments before the Stumps of Day 2 of the match. He will resume his batting with an unbeaten 106 runs. The left-hander, how mostly known for his aggressive batting in the Twenty20 format, through the Duleep Trophy semi-final as the South Zone captain, depicts his skills, composure and resilience when the situation was not a cakewalk.
Watch the stroke that takes Tilak to the century:
That moment when Tilak Varma got to his 💯 🙌
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) August 31, 2026
The South Zone captain leads from the front with a gritty century 💪#DuleepTrophy pic.twitter.com/uSlM9xN6Vw
Tilak Varma keeps the hopes alive for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final
Ahead of the Duleep Trophy, Tilak Varma had to struggle a lot when he was with the India National Cricket Team for the series against Ireland, England, and Zimbabwe, in back-to-back bilateral series. He scored a half-century against Zimbabwe, but that was not enough to justify his talent.
The ongoing Duleep Trophy is the stage for the 23-year-old to show what he actually can do on his day. Apart from a 36-run knock from the seasoned campaigner Narayan Jagadeesan, the top and most of the South Zone middle-order failed to produce anything significant against the North Zone bowling attacks. Gurnoor Brar ended the day with four wickets under his belt and a brace each for the other two pacers of the side, Arshdeep Singh and Anshul Kaboj.
Shreyas Gopal played his part well alongside Tilak Varma
Captain Varma was first to stand tall against the pace trio of North Zone. Later, he was accompanied in the middle by another experienced batter of South Zone, Shreyas Gopal. Varma and Gopal stitched a 175-run partnership for their team, facing 336 balls. More than scoring runs, it was important for South Zone to protect their wickets to avoid further collapse in their batting order.
Tilak remained unbeaten for 106 runs from 225 balls, while Shreyas Gopal was dismissed after scoring 87 runs from 169 balls. The skipper will face the first ball tomorrow as he took a single in the final ball of the day. No.11 batter Kavuri Saiteja, who faced only seven deliveries so far, will be on the opposite side of the pitch. Currently, South Zone lead North Zone by 90 runs with 1 wicket remaining.
