Follow UsWhen you are a player retained by your franchise, there is always added pressure on you. That seemed the case for Tilak Varma, who had started off the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on a dull note. In his first three innings, he scored 31 off 25, 10 off 5 and 39 off 36 before he was forced to retire out for 25 off 23 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a match Mumbai Indians (MI) were chasing 204. That could have gotten any player down, but not Tilak.
MI did not lose faith in him. They hung on to him, and in the next two matches, he smashed 56 off 29 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and most recently against Dlhi Capitals (DC), he scored 59 off 33 deliveries.
Before the start of the IPL, Tilak ensured that he had sealed his place in the Indian side, having hit two tons and a fifty in his last seven innings. It's going to be tough to drop him from the team, especially after a run of excellent performances. A good IPL here would have further strengthened his case.
As you would expect from a batter who bats largely at four or five, Tilak has been excellent against spinners. He has been dismissed just once against spin, scoring 120 runs at a strike rate of 141.18. However, against pacers, he averages just 30, but he has not let his intensity drop against them, striking at 147.54.
On April 13 (Sunday), the southpaw proved why he is a crucial figure in the MI line-up, playing a calm, composed, and calculated knock to take MI over 200.
IPL 2024 was the southpaw's best IPL season, hitting 416 at 41.6 at a strike rate of nearly 150. He put in good shifts for his national team after that, too.
With the T20 World Cup set to be played in India and Sri Lanka next year, the last thing the 22-year-old would have wanted is an underwhelming IPL. He seems to be peaking at the right time, and he would hope that it continues this way.