New Delhi: Tilak Verma’s match-winning performance in India’s two-wicket victory over England in Chennai has helped him overtake Virat Kohli’s mark of most runs in T20Is.
He scored an unbeaten 72 off 55 balls, including four boundaries and five sixes, as India chased down 166 runs with four balls to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
In the process the left hander scored the most runs across four successive T20I innings (318) without being dismissed, to go past Kohli’s mark of 258, Sanju Samson (257), Rohit Sharma (253), and Shikhar Dhawan (252).
Verma has been unbeaten in his last four T20I knocks, scoring 19, 120, 107 and 72, helping India to victories in Kolkata and Chennai against England.
New Zealand’s Mark Chapman held the previous world record, having amassed 271 runs without losing his wicket in four T20Is, while Shreyas Iyer (240), Aaron Finch (240), and David Warner (239) are also on the all-time list.
India were in a spot of bother in their run chase, but Verma was aggressive yet calm as he hit Jofra Archer for four sixes.
‘Bat sensibly’
Speaking after his match-winning knock, Verma said his conversation with head coach Gautam Gambhir helped him tackle the situation.
“First of all, the wicket was slightly two-paced and wickets were falling one after the other, so actually I was talking with Gautam Gambhir Sir yesterday, and he said that whatever happens, played according to the situation,” he said.
“What the team needs do that. If you want 10 runs in an over, take the charge. Bat sensibly is what he said.”
Tilak put together a crucial late-order partnership with Ravi Bishnoi to help India cross the finish line in the match, later disclosing what he said to the leg spinner while they were battling in the middle.
“You know actually, I told Ravi that just hold the shape and play it through the line. You know he played one flick shot and one shot against Livingstone. Those two boundaries made the chase easier,” he said.
Tilak Verma scored an unbeaten 72 off 55 balls, including four boundaries and five sixes, as India chased down 166 runs with four balls to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
