CHENNAI: A 22-ball 39 seldom makes the headline in a T20I match. The odds are even less if your team crumbles from 77/4 to 145/9 while falling short by four runs to a team that has not been world-beaters for a while now. However, as Friday dawned upon the Indian subcontinent, the scrutiny on the loss against West Indies in the first T20I apart, the biggest talking point was Tilak Varma.
The debutant's name has been on the radar for India's debut since he stole the show in the Indian Premier League earlier this season. While the promise was always there from the 2020 U19 World Cup to the 2022 IPL when he made his debut for Mumbai Indians, this year has been the coming-of-age one for the left-hander.
The Hyderabad youngster's personal journey to the top is an inspiring tale in itself. What everyone wanted to see is how Varma takes to international cricket. On Thursday, he showed a trailer of what's to come in a potentially long career for India. He didn't care that Alzarri Joseph clocks in at 140KPHs. He stood still and tonked a length ball — only his second in the innings — into the cow corner with ease. Joseph stood there and watched. Everyone knew what was coming on the next delivery. The lanky pacer ran in and pitched short into the left-hander, except Varma was ready. He moved across on the backfoot to shuffle and hook the bouncer into the stands. Three balls 12 runs, two sixes. Talk about making a statement of intent with Suryakumar Yadav, India's best T20 batter at the other end.
It's not just about the intent though. When Romario Shepherd came along to bowl a slower delivery across him, Varma waited. He got on his knees to go under and loft the ball over extra covers. So much that it would have reminded many of Suresh Raina's inside out shot. Off his 39 runs, 26 came off boundaries in just five balls. That overall strike rate of 177.27 doesn't look all that bad even though he fell to a slow bouncer from Shepherd. He tried a repeat of the pull shot only to find the fielder at short fine leg.
For years now, lack of intent has been India's biggest concern in the shortest format. And now that transition is the first word in Indian cricket, they seem to be on the right track, at least in T20Is. The big three — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul — haven't played any T20I since the World Cup last year. If that is not enough evidence, take a look at the top four in the first T20I on Thursday. Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Yadav and Varma — three of the four are from the 2016, 2018 and 2020 U19 World Cup batches, respectively.
India might have lost the match badly and deserve all the flak for the same, but the bigger picture is that the likes of Gill, Kishan and Varma aren't the future. They are the belong at the present, and as Varma showed on Thursday, they are here to stay.