Tilak Varma announced his entry to international cricket in style by opening his account with a six in the first ODI match against West Indies on Thursday, August 3. The youngster pulled off an impressive knock of 39 off 22 on his international debut and displayed his big-hitting skills at Trinidad's Brian Lara Stadium.
The 20-year-old left-handed batter came to bat at no.4 after the departure of in-form Ishan Kishan in the fifth over. India were chasing only 150 runs but Tilak seemed in a hurry on his debut. He pulled off a stunning 81-meter six while facing his only second delivery in international cricket.
He produced another six on the next ball off Alzarri Joseph over a deep square leg. He finished the powerplay over with a four with a big help from overthrow runs but that took his tally to 16 runs in his first five balls in international cricket.
Mumbai Indians' youngster added 39 runs for the fourth wicket with Suryakumar Yadav to put India in a comfortable position. Tilak scored 39 off 22 with the help of three sixes and two fours before losing his wicket to Romario Shepherd in the 11th over. His knock put India in a strong position to win the game in the last ten overs.
But India's star-studded middle order stumbled after Tilak's departure. Suryakumar scored only 21 off 21 and captain Hardik Pandya added 19 off 19 as West Indies bowlers tried to make a comeback in the last five overs.
Meanwhile, pacer Mukesh Kumar also made his T20I debut but was not able to make any impact today. He failed to get any wickets from his three overs bowled and conceded eight runs per over. But he didn't allow a single boundary off his two-over spell in the powerplay overs to restrict West Indies to 149 runs while bowling first.
