"Really liked his maturity" - Abhinav Mukund hails Tilak Varma for game-awareness in the 3rd T20I knock against West Indies

Former Indian opener Abhinav Mukund praised young sensation Tilak Varma for his mature knock in the partnership with Mumbai Indians (MI) teammate Suryakumar Yadav in the third T20I against West Indies at Guyana.

The duo added a match-winning 87 runs off 50 deliveries in their run chase of 160 to keep India alive in the five-match series.

While Yadav was going great guns during his sensational 83 off 44 deliveries, Varma played the second-fiddle role to perfection. The southpaw has been in red-hot form since making his international debut in the first T20I, scoring 139 runs in three games at an average of 69.50 and a strike rate of 139.

Speaking to Jio Cinema, Mukund credited Varma for playing his role to perfection in the partnership per the team's needs.

"He played the role that was required, and it turned out to be such a good partnership. I just feel Tilak Varma didn't play it out of choice or anything. He just went about doing his business. When Suryakumar was going so hard at every single ball and every single over, he didn't necessarily need to go after anything. So that's where I really liked his maturity," said Mukund.

Despite a dismal batting performance by the Men in Blue in the opening two games, the 20-year-old was the shining light in the dark tunnel.

Team India will look to continue the momentum and even the series in the fourth T20I at Florida on Saturday, August 12.

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"Knocking down the doors of other formats" - Abhinav Mukund on Tilak Varma

Tilak Varma could be the next left-handed middle-order batter for India across formats.

Abhinav Mukund felt that Tilak Varma's instantly gratifying performances are promising signs for Indian cricket and one that should have the batter playing all formats soon.

Varma struck his second and third ball on debut for a maximum and scored a counterattacking 39 off 22 deliveries. The youngster then displayed a more mature side of his batting in the third T20I during the partnership with Suryakumar Yadav.

"He hung around, ensured that the finish was quite good and it's great signs for Indian cricket. You have high praise from someone like Robin Uthappa. He loves him in terms of comparison to someone like Yuvraj Singh. From whatever we've seen in this series, he's really knocking down the doors of other formats," said Mukund.

The Hyderabad-born cricketer had a scintillating IPL season, scoring 343 runs in 11 games at an average of 42.88 and a 164.11 strike rate for the Mumbai Indians. It followed an equally impressive debut season where Tilak Varma scored 397 runs in 14 games at an average of 36.10.

Overall, the youngster boasts sensational numbers in T20s and List-A cricket, with averages of 37.70 and 56.18, respectively.