Fresh off rehabilitation, Tilak admitted he hadn’t expected to return to competitive action so soon and credited the BCCI and the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for fast-tracking his recovery. Speaking in a video shared by the BCCI, the youngster said, “To be honest, I did not expect that I will be back on the field this early. Really thankful for CoE and BCCI. I always say that playing the World Cup is my biggest dream.”
Walking into a packed stadium chanting his name proved to be an emotional moment for the left-hander. “When I entered the ropes and everyone was shouting ‘Tilak, Tilak,’ I really felt nice. It boosted me a lot,” he said, adding that the atmosphere felt electric despite the match being a warm-up fixture.
Tilak also spoke about the aggressive batting intent that inspired him to play freely. With Ishan Kishan setting the tone at the top and Abhishek Sharma continuing the onslaught, the energy in the middle pushed him to express himself. “The way Ishan was batting, the way Abhishek and everyone was going, I was also like, ‘Main bhi maarunga jaake,’” Tilak said, summing up the team’s fearless approach.
Backing up his words with the bat, Tilak smashed a rapid 45 off just 19 balls as India posted a massive 240 for five, built on Ishan Kishan’s explosive start. The Indian bowlers then held their nerve to restrict South Africa to 210, sealing a confident 30-run victory.
With his comeback timed perfectly ahead of the tournament, Tilak Varma’s return has injected fresh energy into the Indian camp as they now shift focus to their T20 World Cup opener against the USA on Saturday.
