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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.)

Jinx Shattered

Correspondent
Jul 7, 2025
2 min read

It took nearly six decades, nine attempts and countless heartbreaks for Shubman Gill’s men to break a 58-year curse with a record-smashing win in Birmingham, thus restoring faith in India’s long-format grit.


The Gill-led Indian team humiliated England by posting a historic 336-run victory, India’s biggest-ever Test win away from home. In doing so, they levelled the five-match series 1-1 and signalled that this young, often-underestimated team may yet script one of Indian cricket’s great away triumphs.


Few expected such a turnaround after the dispiriting five-wicket defeat in Leeds. The mood was grim. Veteran analysts had decried lower-order collapses and the glaring overdependence on Jasprit Bumrah. Questions swirled around leadership and temperament. But what followed at Edgbaston was a stunning resurgence.


Shubman Gill, a figure more often discussed for elegance than endurance, exploded every myth about fragility and inexperience. His twin masterclasses - 269 in the first innings and 161 in the second - were innings of composure and control. With an aggregate of 430 runs, Gill became the first Test captain in history to cross 400 in a single match. More crucially, he batted like a man who believed.


It was not just the runs, but the context that made the win seismic. Edgbaston has long been a graveyard for Indian ambitions. Of the eight previous outings here, India had lost seven and drawn one. For 58 years, the venue remained an unresolved equation until now. Gill had support from Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant, whose cameos ensured England were buried under an avalanche of runs before they could mount a response.


The bowlers, too, rose to the occasion. In the absence of Bumrah, Akash Deep turned doubters into admirers, claiming ten wickets including a decisive six in the final innings. Mohammed Siraj, more workhorse than wizard, chipped in with seven scalps, harrying the English batting line-up with relentless discipline. Between them, the pace battery exposed the brittleness of England’s ultra-aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach, which seems increasingly ill-suited when confronted with sustained quality and tight fields.


The numbers tell their own story. India’s 336-run margin eclipses their previous away best of 318 against the West Indies in 2019. But the deeper message is psychological. It is about self-belief, tactical maturity and the willingness to challenge narratives. This was not a win built on star power or home comfort, but on planning, poise and leadership.


Still only 25, Gill captained not with the flamboyance of a Kohli or the stoicism of a Dravid, but with his own brand of assured decisiveness. He let his bat do the talking and his team do the proving. In an age when Indian cricket too often veers toward spectacle, here was a captain quietly recalibrating ambition with execution.


For England, the loss is a sobering one. Edgbaston, their fortress, has been breached. This may just be one Test in a five-match series, but it already feels bigger. It has reminded cricket itself that the long game still matters.

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