Thiruvananthapuram. Youngsters who made their mark in BCCI’s T20 League Indian Premier League are now showing their strength in Team India. Tilak Verma, who plays for the IPL team Mumbai Indians captained by Rohit Sharma, is currently playing in the T20 series against Australia. Rinku Singh made his mark in the IPL a season ago but the youngster from Hyderabad wants to learn the art of ‘finishing’ (a positive end to a match) by closing T20 matches from his national teammate.
Rinku has shown his mettle at the international level well in his short career. The left-handed batsman, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, has proved his talent in this T20 tournament as well. In the first T20 International cricket match, Rinku Singh’s winning six was not counted due to Nathan Ellis’ no-ball, but his good batting in the death overs was appreciated by all. India defeated Australia by two wickets in this match.
Tilak said on the eve of the second match of the five-match series, “I am learning the art of finishing matches from Rinku because he has been doing it consistently for India. I want to do the same and hope that I will be able to do so in the upcoming matches as well.
Tilak is also a left handed batsman like Rinku. He has so far played 11 T20 Internationals for India in which he has scored two fifties and has a strike rate of over 140. He said, “There is no pressure of expectations. I have a role and I have to play that role for the team. I have to play my role at number five and play long shots or rotate the strike depending on the situation.
Tilak also spoke about his role in the last match. He said, “In the last match, the leg-spinner was bowling from one end and I wanted to dominate him because at that time we needed 10 runs per over. So, it was decided that I would face the leg-spinner while Surya Bhai (Suryakumar Yadav), who had already established himself at the crease, would take an aggressive approach against the fast bowlers.
,
Tags: India vs Australia, Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, World Cup 2023
First published: November 25, 2023, 21:22 IST