Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin showered praise on Tilak Varma after the Men in Blue claimed a thrilling five-wicket win against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final at Dubai on Sunday. Ashwin lauded Varma for keeping his cool under immense pressure when the match was on the line.

Varma scored a match-winning knock of 69 runs off just 53 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes to help his team get over the line. India were under all kinds of pressure at 20-3 in the run-chase of 147 but the left-hander was able to absorb it and delivered when it mattered the most.

The southpaw added 57 runs with Sanju Samson and then added another crucial alliance of 60 runs with Shivam Dube.

“Hardik Pandya was injured, but even without him, we put in a good performance. I was afraid that without him, the middle order might lack experience, and that could cost us the match, and that is why it is important to shed a lot of light on Tilak Varma,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“When Tilak Varma first came onto the scene in the IPL, everyone thought he was a good player. We all know that he has the skill, but what made Tilak Varma stand out, was the composure that he had. He finishes while chasing and has been fabulous for India,” he added.

The former all-rounder praised Varma for handling the pressure with guile as he came into bat when India was under the cosh.

“When Tilak Varma came out to bat in a tricky situation, it was difficult to face the new ball in the power play. He tried to play the backfoot punch, the drive, and the flick, but was not able to rotate the strike. But he read the pace of the wicket, stayed completely in a composed manner, and he played the shot of the day, in my opinion. Everyone will speak about his sixes off Haris Rauf, but he played a punch off Faheem Ashraf’s bowling between cover and mid off, and after that, he was on a roll,” Ashwin elaborated.

Varma has scored 962 runs in 32 T20I matches at an average of 53.44 and a strike rate of 149.15.