Tilak Varma, right, interacts with West Indies’ Akeal Hosein during the third T20I cricket match on October 11, 2026
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium will open its arms for a few homegrown stars in an Indian team looking to cement its lead in the five-match T20I series against the West Indies.
Local lad Tilak Varma is aware of Uppal’s flat surfaces that have seen gargantuan T20 scores.
“We were discussing that the wickets here have been changed. But in T20s, you can’t go from the first ball. We’ve played everywhere. Each player has played more than 50 games in the format. You take one or two balls and get to know how the wicket is behaving, what shots to play and more,” Tilak said on Tuesday (October 13, 2026), the eve of the fourth T20I.
Happiest in the No. 3 spot, Tilak said he was happy to be malleable to the team’s demands.
“Right now my role is to handle the middle phase. If quick wickets go, I can take my time and take the game deep. If the top three bat till the 14th or 15th over, I know how to change gears and go from the first ball. I’ve been practising for both.”
The 23-year-old blitzed away to an unbeaten 44 off just 18 balls in Ranchi before a 16-ball 28 in Indore.
Tilak was in good spirits ahead of a fixture that could potentially decide the series and was happy that so many members in the setup are familiar with conditions in Hyderabad.
“Yes, we’ll have a slight edge. Ishan [Kishan], Nitish [Kumar], Abhishek and myself have played here many times. More than me, the others have played here more because every year they play half of their IPL games here. So they know how the wicket behaves, how the outfield is and more”.
Published – October 13, 2026 08:05 pm IST
