"It's Dhoni's home, so the guy should go deep while chasing" - Aakash Chopra lauds Tilak Varma's knock in IND vs ENG 2025 2nd T20I

Former India player Aakash Chopra has lauded Tilak Varma for playing a match-winning knock in the second T20I against England in Chennai. He pointed out that the youngster was bound to take the game deep at Chepauk, MS Dhoni's home ground when he plays for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

England set India a 166-run target after being asked to bat first on Saturday, January 25. Tilak scored an unbeaten 72 off 55 deliveries in the chase to help the Men in Blue register a two-wicket win with four deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener praised Tilak for finishing the game, much like Dhoni.

"Tilak Varma, the superstar. We sometimes call someone a superstar very early. We also call someone a great or a legend very early these days. I am not saying that he is already a superstar but he is on the way," he said (1:40).

"He went till the end and didn't throw away his wicket. 18 runs were required, eight wickets had fallen, and he had already hit five sixes, so he could have tried to hit three more sixes. However, he said he would go deep. The match was at Chepauk, it's Dhoni's home, so the guy should go deep while chasing," Chopra added.

Aakash Chopra highlighted that such unbeaten knocks give players a different kind of satisfaction. He added that the feeling is surreal when one scores the winning runs in a crunch situation.

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"Surya gave him the chance in this case and the guy hasn't looked back since" - Aakash Chopra on Suryakumar Yadav allowing Tilak Varma to bat at No. 3

Tilak Varma has scored 318 runs since his last T20I dismissal. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Tilak Varma has made the most of the opportunity given by Suryakumar Yadav to bat at No. 3.

"I am reminded repeatedly about the time when he would have knocked on the door and asked Surya to make him bat at No. 3, and that he wouldn't let him down. A captain has a hunch, sometimes he gives that chance and sometimes he doesn't. Surya gave him the chance in this case and the guy hasn't looked back since," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator particularly appreciated Tilak for the mighty sixes he hit off Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse's bowling.

"Tilak Varma came to bat at No. 3 again and how well he batted. The leg-side shots he is playing, a ball he hit off Jofra's bowling went to Marina Beach and didn't return. Then he hit another six, and then a six against Carse," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra opined that Tilak Varma was like a genius at work. He added that the 22-year-old's batting gave a 'cosmic-life' feeling as he was virtually deciding beforehand where the bowler would bowl and where he would hit him.