India’s vice-captain Tilak Varma has taken the new role of batting at number five and adding the finishing touches for the team like fish to water.
Earlier, Varma was doing a fine job for the team while batting at one drop and now the change in role and batting position, hasn’t had any impact on his performances.
“I already had the power game; I have scored runs at number three as well. Now, batting at number five or six, I think about going for a boundary off the very first ball only if it’s there to be hit,” he said ahead of the fourth T20I.
“Otherwise, I focus on taking the game deep. I take a bit more time. Initially, I focus on singles and doubles, finding gaps for fours or two runs,” he added.
Varma said bowlers are under more pressure than batters in the fag end of the innings. The left-hander scored a match-winning knock of 51 runs off just 26 balls in the second T20I against the Kiwis in the run chase of 181.
He added, “In the end overs, as a batter, the bowler is under far more pressure than I am. That positive thought is constantly running in my head, that the bowler is under more pressure, so they are bound to leak runs.”
Varma added a match-winning alliance of 69 runs off 30 balls in the second game with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored 26 runs off 13 balls.
On his match-winning stand with Reddy at the Hagley Oval, he said: “I just told Nitish, ‘if we pull the match off from here, it’s going to be immense fun. Let’s just stay out there, take the game deep, and see what happens’.”
The fourth T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday.
