“Tilak Varma is a star” - Suryakumar Yadav lavishes praise on young Team India batter

Team India batter Suryakumar Yadav described Tilak Varma as a star after the latter came up with yet another impressive knock in the third T20I against West Indies on Tuesday. The 32-year-old praised Varma as a cricketer who has amazing maturity for his age.

Varma has made a wonderful start to his T20I career. He scored 39 off 22 on his T20I debut and followed it up with 51 off 41. On Tuesday in Guyana, the 20-year-old hit an unbeaten 49 off 37 balls, adding 87 runs for the third wicket with Suryakumar (83 off 44).

The Suryakumar-Varma stand ensured India stayed alive in the five-match series, with a thumping seven-wicket victory in a chase of 160. Speaking after the game, Suryakumar was lavish in his praise of Varma.

“I feel Tilak Varma, for his age, he’s showing amazing maturity. The way he batted with me; we’ve played together earlier in the IPL. He performed very well there as well. And now here, on this stage, to show such maturity in only your third game, I think all credit goes to him, his hard work that he has put in so far," he said.

“I hope he continues it. But yeah, Tilak Varma is a star,” the right-handed batter exclaimed.

🇮🇳🫡 pic.twitter.com/PFqzxPX4fy

On what makes Varma a dangerous batter in the T20 format, Suryakumar explained that he has clarity of thought and is very strong mentally. The right-hander elaborated:

“He is very clear in his mind. Most importantly, he knows his game very well - what he wants to do when he comes into bat. And, today also he was very clear [about] what he wanted to do. He’s mentally very strong. That’s the most important thing that you need when you come into an Indian dressing room and play at this level. He’s come strong.”

Following his effort on Tuesday, Varma joined Suryakumar as the only Indian batters to score more than 30 in their first three T20I innings.

“I never think about milestones” - Suryakumar

While Suryakumar already has three T20I hundreds, he had a chance to notch up a fourth in Guyana. However, responding to a query, the unconventional batter stated that he is not too concerned about milestones.

“I never think about milestones. Whether I am on 47 or 98, I play according to the needs of my team. I hit sixes or fours to reach the milestone. Whatever my team needs, I do that,” he said.

Speaking about his mindset during his brilliant innings in the third T20I, he added:

"This was the same day as these last two years. I went out and expressed myself. Everything kept falling in place with the way I batted.”

𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨💪 twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/ZkYOch2uBZ

India and West Indies will now meet in the last two T20Is in Lauderhill, Florida on August 12 and 13.