"Give me opportunity at No. 3" Suryakumar Yadav reveals Tilak Varma's request ahead of 3rd SA vs IND T20I

Tilak Varma hit his maiden T20I century in Centurion as India won by 11 runs.

India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has made an interesting revelation about a request by Tilak Varma to change in his batting position ahead of the third SA vs IND T20I, where the young left-hander smashed his maiden T20I century.

On Wednesday, in Centurion, Varma became the 12th Indian men’s cricketer to notch up a ton in the shortest format. Further, at the age of 22 years and 5 days, Tilak became the second-youngest player to score a T20I century for matches between Full Members.

Batting first, India lost Sanju Samson on the second ball of the innings but Tilak, who batted at No. 3, and Abhishek Sharma kept on with the attacking tempo and racked up a 107-run partnership in 52 balls.

While a few wickets fell, Varma slowed down before picking up speed once again to reach his ton in 51 balls. Varma ended with 107* off 56 balls, his innings laced with eight fours and seven sixes. India piled up 219 runs, which proved to be 11 runs more than what the Proteas could manage.

Suryakumar Yadav reveals conversation with Tilak Varma a day before the match

After the game, Suryakumar revealed that Tilak had asked for a promotion in the batting order. The left-hander had played the first two T20Is at No. 4 and requested the captain’s spot of No. 3 in the third game. to which the skipper obliged.

Suryakumar said, “In Gqeberha, he [Tilak] came to my room and said, ‘Give me the opportunity to bat at No. 3. Let me express myself.'”

The skipper replied, “You are going to bat at No. 3… Express yourself.”

Suryakumar lavished praise on Tilak and announced that he would get more opportunities at No. 3. The India captain said, “I knew what he was capable of, and he did that. Going forward, he is definitely batting at No. 3. He asked for it; he delivered; he has earned it.”

In his post-match presentation speech, Varma credited Suryakumar and thanked him for the opportunity to bat at No. 3.

With this win, India took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series. The last T20I of this series will be played on Friday in Johannesburg.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.