NEW DELHI: India’s title defence roared back to life with a commanding 72-run win over Zimbabwe, and at the heart of the statement victory was a fearless message from Tilak Varma: “We want to show the fear to the opposition. ”
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Coming in at number six in a high-pressure encounter, Tilak smashed an unbeaten 44 off just 16 balls, striking at a staggering 275.00. The knock, laced with three fours and four sixes, helped India post their highest total of this T20 World Cup — 256/4 — and kept their semifinal hopes alive.
Designated as India’s number three for much of the tournament, Tilak had endured a lean patch. With a strike rate hovering around 118 in his previous five innings and visible struggles against spin on sluggish surfaces, questions had begun to surface over his role. But at Chepauk, he flipped the narrative in style.
“I always say that whatever team needs, I am up for it,” Tilak said at the post-match press conference. “I have done the same role for the last four years in IPL for Mumbai Indians, switching between stabiliser and hitter.
I have done it in a few games for India as well. According to the situation, I can adjust. ”
He added, “As I said before, I was just waiting for one innings. I am really grateful to God for that. I am pretty confident now that, going forward, I can win games for the team.”
India’s aggressive template was evident from the start. “Sanju started brilliantly this evening,” Tilak noted, praising the openers for setting the tone. “We discussed that whatever the situation is — even if we lose three or four wickets in the powerplay — we will bat with the same rhythm. We want to show the fear to the opposition that these guys are ready to hit each and every ball.”
Tilak admitted the team closely followed South Africa’s dominant win over West Indies in Ahmedabad, knowing net run rate scenarios could come into play. “We were all watching the match. But as individuals and as a team, we felt it was important for us to win,” he said.
“If you play good cricket, the run rate will automatically improve. We needed our cricket to be good. If our cricket is good, then God will help us in the tournament.”
Get the latest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 updates, including the full schedule, teams, live scores, points table, and key series stats such as top run-scorers and wicket-takers.
