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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.)

The Loneliness Within

Writer: Shoma A. Chatterji
Shoma A. Chatterji
Jun 24
3 min read

Pratyabartan is a new Bengali film which gets across the message about a “return to one’s roots” by an urban, upward-climbing neutral family who are settled in Kolkata. The film opens on an upwardly mobile, slightly Westernised nuclear Bengali family settled in Kolkata. What happens when their teenage daughter, studying in an elitist, English-medium school, falls back on her academics as she is addicted to her cell-phone. While Dr. Dipankar Sanyal (Shilajit Majumdar) has a very business medical practice, his wife, Shalini (Aparajita Adya) is attached to a NGO involved in fighting for women’s rights. Thus, the daughter Disha (Mistu), is left to cope with the absence of her very busy parents. She does it by neglecting her academics and getting addicted to the digital media.


Problems for the parents escalate when the principal of the school calls them to complain about their daughter’s falling back on academics. They really cannot understand why this is happening and go along with their lives as usual till something critical happens when the girl is caught in a police raid on a nightclub known for drug-pushing. Dipankar and his wife decide to visit Dipankar’s parents who are settled in their humble homestead somewhere in a small town in West Bengal. The father (Anjan Dutt) was never in agreement with his son’s decision to migrate to Kolkata. His wife (Roopa Ganguly) is content keeping house, cooking while the old man keeps busy reading and gardening.


The migration is initially disliked by Disha but she slowly adapts to the simple small-town life, becomes friends with her grandfather and the little daughter of the housemaid who lives in. She is surprised with how little makes this little girl happy and how a simple life can also be a happy life. Do the Sanyal’s decide to settle down in this simple small town where Dr. Sanyal wishes to go back to his charitable practice here.


But when the family comes back to Kolkata to protect the daughter’s schooling which has decided not only to rusticate her but also to legally ban her from any formal education, the film begins to collapse on its knees. It takes up a lot of footage in the script and is extra-melodramatic. Why should all the students be invited to attend this ‘court-martial’ kind of hearing? Is this ethical since the school is elitist and exclusive?


The narrative moves smoothly in its linear narrative adding the punch of a younger brother of the doctor who is has a genetic heart problem and dies somewhere in the middle. But how is it that with such a high-profile doctor for an older brother, he lacks the kind of treatment he could have had?


This is a lacking but the wonderful performances of all the actors including the little girl and the girl who plays Disha lifts the film from sliding down to sheer melodrama. Special mention must be paid to Anjan Dutt as Dr. Sanyal’s father and Roopa Ganguly who comes back to the screen after a considerable gap are a wonderful gift for the audience.


The cinematography suits the demands of the script and the subject, specially focused on working parents who forget their responsibilities towards their child is commendable. The editing could have been a bit seamless. The focus on the famous rap singer is well-done.


That touch of the mother Shalini taking anti-depression drugs minus consultation and the daughter pinching the capsules without reason is an excellent reminder for urban parents who have moved away from the raw realities of life and forgotten to imbibe the beauties of Nature and natural food.


According to writer-director Samarpan Sengupta, Pratyabartan is “the story of our time” - a reflection of rapidly changing cities, the race for success, the lure of social media, and the quiet loneliness that increasingly defines urban life. He says the film’s characters are not imaginary but mirror contemporary India, where many people long to reconnect, listen, and truly live. Sengupta hopes audiences leave the theatre not only moved by the story but also reflecting on their own lives, relationships, and emotions.


Pratyabartan which means “return” for this film is not just literal but also metaphorical as it draws our attention to the contrast between the complexities of material ambition and the happiness of life lived in simplicity against Nature. At the same time, it is not really a practical solution.


(The writer is a noted film scholar. Views personal.)

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