Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad at a training session at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday, April 17, 2026.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

Tilak Varma was back to his menacing best.
| Photo Credit: B.Jothi Ramalingam

Happy headache: Skipper Tilak has plenty of options to choose from and could afford to bench a few.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

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India’s Tilak Varma during the second T20 match at MAC Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Ragu R

Tilak Varma set a new world record during his unbeaten knock of 72 against England in the second T20I in Chennai. The 22-year-old has scored 318 runs in T20Is without being dismissed and went past New Zealand batter Mark Chapman’s record of 271 runs between dismissals set in 2023.

Tilak was dismissed last during the second T20I against South Africa in Gqeberha, where he was got out for 20.

Since his dismissal for 20 runs against South Africa at Gqeberha on November 10 last year, Tilak has gone on to play knocks of 107*, 120*, 19* and 72*, which translates to 318 runs in four innings.

Since his return from injury in the T20I set-up during November last year, Tilak has made 371 runs in six innings at an average of a massive 185.5, two centuries and a fifty.

This has greatly helped Tilak’s overall T20I statistics. In 22 matches and 21 innings, he has scored 707 runs at a remarkable average of 58.91 and a strike rate of 156.07, with two centuries and three fifties.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. Barring skipper Jos Buttler (45 in 30 balls, with two fours and three sixes), the England top order once again was struggling against spin. A couple of useful cameos from Brydon Carse (31 in 17 balls, with a four and three sixes) and wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith (22 in 12 balls, with a four and two sixes) took England to 165/9 in their 20 overs.

Axar Patel (2/32) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/38) caused England the most trouble.

In the run-chase, India suffered setbacks in the first half, as Abhishek Sharma (12), Sanju Samson (4), skipper Suryakumar Yadav (12), Dhruv Jurel (4) and Hardik Pandya (7) perished one by one. Tilak got assistance from Washington Sundar (26 in 19 balls, with three fours and a six), a 38-run partnership that let India cross the 100-run mark from a poor situation of 78/5. After Sundar and Axar (2) perished in quick succession with 40 runs left, Tilak had partnerships with Arshdeep Singh (4) and Ravi Bishnoi (9*) that helped India secure a win with two wickets and four balls left.

Carse’s brilliant spell of 3/29 and a strong spell of 1/14 by spinner Adil Rashid went in vain as India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

(with inputs from ANI)

Indian players celebrate after their win against South Africa in the fourth T20 cricket match at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday (November 15, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

India head coach for South Africa tour V.V.S. Laxman has hailed the T20 International series triumph as “a special effort” after his team secured a massive 135-run win in the last match in Johannesburg.

India won the four-match T20I series 3-1, with the likes of batters Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson, and bowler Varun Chakravarty making big impact.

“Really proud of our guys for the spirit with which they played this entire series. 3-1 win is a special effort, brilliantly led by @surya_14kumar, @IamSanjuSamson, and Tilak were unstoppable with the bat, and Varun Chakravarthy was outstanding with the ball,” Laxman posted on his X account.

“… the entire team, the way they played and enjoyed each other’s success, couldn’t be prouder of the boys. Congratulations on a memorable win,” the batting great said in a post on X.

Captain Suryakumar also described the series win as a “special” one.

“Well done, boys; congratulations to all. Everybody knows how difficult it is to win series overseas. The last time we came here, it was 1-1,” he said while addressing the team at the dressing room after the series win.

“This time, even after we led 2-1 in the series, we decided how to play the last match (aggressively), and everybody stepped up. Credit goes to everybody. We won this series as a team.”

He also thanked the non-playing members of the team — Vijaykumar Vyshak, Jitesh Sharma, and Yash Dayal — for their support. He also thanked the support staff for their valuable inputs.

“It’s a special win, and I am sure everyone must be happy. At the same time, we take a lot of learning and will go back and reflect. All the best to all those who are turning up in domestic matches, I am also going (for that),” he added.

Tilak Varma plays a shot during the 2022 Asian Games men’s semi-final cricket match between Bangladesh and India in Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province on October 6, 2023. Varma scored a half-century.
| Photo Credit: AFP

India crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets on Friday to power into the gold medal match in Hangzhou as they bid to win the Asian Games title on their first attempt.

Awaiting their young, but still formidable, side in Saturday’s title-decider will be Pakistan or Afghanistan, who meet later.

Twenty20 cricket has been played at the Asian Games twice before, at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014, with Bangladesh and then Sri Lanka crowned champions.

India did not take part and are playing at an Asiad for the first time.

On an overcast day at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field, they won the toss and chose to field on a pitch that has been susceptible to spin.

It proved to be the case again, with Bangladesh stumbling to 96/9. Sai Kishore grabbed 3/12 and Washington Sundar 2/15.

Only three Bangladesh batters made double figures, led by Jaker Ali’s unbeaten 24.

While Bangladesh struggled, India made it look easy, steaming to their target in 9.2 overs for the loss of one wicket. Tilak Varma was 55 not out and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad unbeaten on 40.

Their chase got off to a horror start with quarter-final century-maker Yashasvi Jaiswal out for a duck in the first over, caught at fine leg.

But fellow opener Gaikwad quickly seized back control, plundering 20 from the third over including two big consecutives sixes off fast bowler Ripon Mondol.

Varma got in on the act in the next over, also crashing straight sixes, this time off Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, as they raced to 50-1.

In contrast, while opener Parvez Hossain Emon hit a six in their second over, Bangladesh had found runs hard to come by.

India got the breakthrough in the fifth over with Mahmudul Hasan Joy holing out to Jaiswal at mid-on off Kishore for five.

Most of India’s big names, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, are at home for the one-day World Cup, but their squad in Hangzhou still has some top talent.

Spinner Sundar has played all three formats of the game for his country and Bangladesh couldn’t cope with his tricky offbreaks.

Skipper Saif Hassan and Zakir Hasan were both out in the space of three balls.

Emon ground 23 off 32, but he too succumbed to spin, shanking to cover off Varma as Bangladesh crawled to 36-4 in the ninth over.

Gaikwad’s decision to deploy Kishore again paid immediate dividends with Afif Hossain and Shahadat Hossain both out to soft dismissals, before Ali’s late flurry.