"The ball was not gripping as much as we thought" - Tilak Varma feels change of conditions played a huge role in India's loss to SA in 2nd T20I
Indian batter Tilak Varma feels the visitors were unlucky to get tough conditions to bowl in the second T20I against South Africa in Gqeberha on Tuesday, December 12. He believes the effect of rain was seen in the second innings as the Men in Blue found it difficult to get any help from the surface and had to bowl with a wet ball.
South Africa were set an imposing revised target of 152 in 15 overs, but Tilak stated that the conditions changed drastically in the second innings. The young southpaw opined that while the Proteas got off to a flying start in the powerplay, the visitors fought well to stay in the game.
Speaking to reporters after the second T20I, Tilak Varma explained why he is of the opinion that it was a great batting effort by Team India, given the conditions they batted in. He said:
"I feel in the powerplay, we gave a bit [of] extra runs, but after that we came back strongly. But due to the wet outfield, the ball was not gripping as much as we thought. But actually, we batted well."
He added:
"It's always good to play in South Africa; it's quite challenging. We are well-prepared for these conditions, and we have actually batted well in a tough situation. The openers didn't do too well today but after that Surya, myself and Rinku got good rhythm in the batting side and we scored well."
Tilak Varma lauds South African spinners
India recovered well after losing three wickets in the powerplay and seemed to be on their way to a 200-plus score. However, South African spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Aiden Markram bowled tidily and pulled things back for the hosts.
On this, Tilak stated:
"I feel the wicket was a bit on the slower side when we batted, especially with the new ball it was slightly seaming. After that, it was gripping a bit and spinning a bit when Markram and Shamsi were bowling. So the spell that Markram and Shamsi bowled went their way. I think it was a good spell from them. Otherwise, we could have reached 200 or 200-plus."
Batting at No. 3, Tilak Varma played a counter-attacking cameo of 29(20) and showed glimpses of what he is capable of.