Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has urged Tilak Varma to play the anchor role like Virat Kohli amid the ongoing T20 World Cup. Varma was dismissed for a solitary run in the Super 8 clash against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday.
The southpaw stepped down the track against Marco Jansen in the second over and got an outside edge to wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock. Varma has managed 107 runs in five matches of the World Cup at an average of 21.40 and a strike rate of 118.88. The left-hander wasn’t able to convert his starts into substantial scores in the group stage.
Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “Tilak Varma has his own way of playing. He can afford to play with a slow strike rate. However, he got out while playing a big shot. There was pressure building on him for the strike rate. As a player, you do keep track of what is being said. But it is the job of the management to ask the player to stick to his role. He should play Virat Kohli’s role. He moved away from his gameplay by stepping out and going for a big shot. You’ll never be able to play if you listen to what others are saying.”
The former UP batter said Varma should look to bat deep for India in the ongoing T20I showpiece.
“To become a chase master, you will have to first bat till the 20th over. Tilak Varma got out early, trying to hit. What is your role? Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh play attacking cricket. There should be at least one player who takes the game deep,” he added.
On the other hand, legendary Sunil Gavaskar was also not impressed by Tilak Varma’s approach against the Proteas.
He said on Star Sports, “Yes, I think he’s been a very street-smart batter. I was a little disappointed with his approach today because, look, a wicket had already fallen. Yes, the required rate was 9.5 runs an over, but it wasn’t like you were chasing 15 runs an over.”
India will next take on Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Thursday.
