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By:

Waleed Hussain

4 March 2025 at 8:04:30 pm

Tilak Varma: The Calm in the Chaos

There are moments in T20 cricket when a match appears to slip beyond reach. For India, one of the most encouraging developments in recent years has been the emergence of a young left-hander who seems increasingly comfortable in precisely these circumstances. His name is Tilak Varma. Varma offered another compelling demonstration of his value, striking an unbeaten 51 off 25 balls against New Zealand in Christchurch. India had slumped to 112 for six while chasing 181, with Mitchell Santner...

Tilak Varma: The Calm in the Chaos

There are moments in T20 cricket when a match appears to slip beyond reach. For India, one of the most encouraging developments in recent years has been the emergence of a young left-hander who seems increasingly comfortable in precisely these circumstances. His name is Tilak Varma. Varma offered another compelling demonstration of his value, striking an unbeaten 51 off 25 balls against New Zealand in Christchurch. India had slumped to 112 for six while chasing 181, with Mitchell Santner threatening to derail the innings. Varma responded with a match-turning partnership alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy, adding 69 runs from just 30 balls to steer India to a four-wicket victory. His late assault transformed a precarious chase into another memorable Indian win. Varma’s greatest contribution to the Indian T20 side may lie in his ability to bring order to chaos. India have never lacked explosive batters. The challenge, however, is ensuring that aggression does not become recklessness and that a promising start does not collapse under pressure. Varma offers a different kind of assurance. He can attack without losing sight of the situation, rebuild after early wickets and accelerate when the game demands it. His left-handed presence also gives India a valuable tactical dimension, disrupting bowling plans and forcing captains to reconsider their match-ups. The Christchurch innings illustrated these qualities perfectly. Such performances are what distinguish a talented batter from a genuine match-winner. The foundations of Varma’s reputation were laid in South Africa in November 2024. Given the opportunity to bat at No. 3, he responded with an unbeaten 107 off 56 balls at Centurion, helping India post 219 for six and secure a crucial victory. He followed that performance with another century, scoring 120 in the next match, establishing himself as a batter capable of dominating quality international bowling. They demonstrated that Varma could assume responsibility at a pivotal position rather than remain confined to the role of a supporting batter. His willingness to take ownership of the No. 3 position was particularly significant for a team continually searching for the right balance between stability and aggression. In the 2025 Asia Cup final against Pakistan, Varma’s unbeaten 69 guided India through a tense chase after an uncertain start. Modern T20 cricket increasingly demands players who can fulfil multiple roles within a single innings. Varma has demonstrated the ingredients required for that responsibility. His left-handed batting adds variety to India’s predominantly right-handed combinations, while his ability to play spin and pace makes him a flexible option across different conditions. The long-term implications are substantial. India need not depend exclusively on one or two established superstars to rescue difficult matches. A reliable Varma in the middle order could give the team greater freedom to attack early, knowing that someone capable of rebuilding remains available when wickets fall. There is, of course, a distinction between potential and sustained greatness. International cricket will test Varma against opponents who study his strengths, exploit his weaknesses and devise plans specifically to contain him. Consistency, fitness, decision-making under pressure and the ability to recover from prolonged lean patches will determine whether he becomes a dependable international fixture or one of India’s defining T20 batters. The challenge is to nurture his development without burdening him with unrealistic expectations. Every promising young cricketer does not need to be labelled the next superstar. Varma deserves the opportunity to develop his own identity. There is something particularly inspiring about Varma’s journey. His rise from Hyderabad, supported during his formative years by a coach who helped him overcome financial constraints, reflects the role that opportunity, sacrifice and perseverance can play in sporting success. But inspiration alone does not win international matches. Performance does. And Varma is increasingly providing the evidence to support the belief surrounding him. For Indian cricket, Tilak Varma represents something more enduring than a succession of memorable innings: the possibility of a middle order built around intelligent aggression and emotional resilience. The next chapter of his career will determine just how far that promise carries him. Yet the signs are encouraging. India may have discovered a batter who can do more than entertain, more than accumulate runs and more than rescue the occasional match. They may have found a cricketer capable of becoming one of the defining pillars of their T20 future. (The writer is a senior journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal.)

BJP closer to RS majority as strategic gains reshape math

Writer: Abhijit Mulye
Abhijit Mulye
Mar 21
3 min read

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party has moved decisively closer to an outright majority in the Rajya Sabha after the latest biennial polls, a shift that political strategists say is the product of careful arithmetic, opportunistic cross voting and a sustained focus on state level strength. With the ruling party now holding 106 of the 245 seats in the Upper House, it stands 17 short of the 123 seat majority mark; yet the pattern of recent results and the calendar of forthcoming vacancies make a clear path to an absolute majority by 2028 increasingly plausible.


The immediate momentum came from the most recent contest for 37 Rajya Sabha seats, where the ruling combine secured 22 seats against the opposition’s 15. That outcome not only added two seats beyond the BJP’s assured tally but also exposed fault lines within the opposition, where discipline lapses and strategic miscalculations allowed the ruling side to convert narrow advantages into concrete gains. Analysts point to instances of cross voting and the inability of opposition parties to present united slates as decisive factors that amplified the BJP’s returns beyond what raw assembly numbers might have predicted.


In the months ahead, 35 more Rajya Sabha seats are scheduled for election, with vacancies arising in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Based on current assembly compositions, projections suggest the BJP could add roughly six seats in the near term, nudging its tally to about 112. That incremental growth, while not decisive on its own, tightens the margin and increases the leverage the party enjoys in parliamentary negotiations.


Next Calendar

The calendar beyond the immediate cycle further favors the ruling party.


In 2027 only a handful of seats — largely from Kerala — are due to fall vacant, offering little opportunity for a major shift. The pivotal year appears to be 2028, when multiple vacancies are expected in politically consequential states. Maharashtra, where the BJP’s legislative strength allows it to elect more candidates than the number of retiring members, and Uttar Pradesh, which will see a significant tranche of 11 seats vacated, are likely to be the main battlegrounds. Given the BJP’s current foothold in both states, party strategists and observers alike regard the 2028 cycle as the most probable moment when the 17 seat deficit could be erased.


Political operatives describe the BJP’s approach as a blend of long term state level investment and short term tactical manoeuvres. At the state level, the party has focused on winning assembly elections and building alliances that translate into Rajya Sabha strength. Tactically, the recent polls demonstrated an ability to exploit divisions within the opposition, whether through direct negotiations with regional leaders, leveraging dissident legislators, or capitalising on the fragmented nature of multi party contests. The result is a steady accumulation of seats that, over successive biennial cycles, compounds into a structural advantage in the Upper House.


For the opposition, the challenge is two-fold: to defend regional strongholds in the upcoming state elections and to maintain internal cohesion. The Rajya Sabha’s indirect electoral mechanism means that every state assembly contest carries national significance; a swing in a single assembly can alter the Upper House calculus months later. Opposition leaders face the immediate task of shoring up their legislative numbers and preventing defections or tactical cross voting that could further erode their position.

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