Everyone is flexible except openers, says Tilak Verma ahead of Third T20

DHARAMSHALA(Himachal Pradesh) : Ahead of the third T20I against South Africa, Indian batter Tilak Varma expressed his willingness to bat anywhere for the team’s cause and defended all-rounder Axar Patel’s questionable promotion to number three during the last match, which India lost by 51 runs.

With the series levelled at 1-1, India will be aiming to take the upper hand against the Proteas in the third T20I at Dharamshala on Sunday. The experimentation phase of Team India with regards to their batting line-up is far from over, as Axar was promoted to number three last match during the chase of 214 runs, but could only make a run-a-ball 21.

Speaking ahead of the match, Tilak said in the pre-match presser that everyone is “flexible” except the openers, Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill.

“Everyone is flexible except the openers. Everyone is flexible and open to bat anywhere. As I said before also, I am up for batting at 3, 4, 5 or 6 anywhere where the team prefers for me. I am up for it,” said Tilak.

His best has come at number three, having made 443 runs in 13 innings at an average of 55.37, with a strike rate of almost 170, including two centuries and two fifties. Tilak has a fine average of 54.44 at number four, having made 490 runs in 14 innings with two fifties, including his 69* against Pakistan in Asia Cup final, but his strike rate drops to 128.60 at this position.

Defending Axar’s promotion to number three, Tilak said, “Axar has already done the same thing in the World Cup (promoted up the order and scoring a valuable 47 in the T20 WC final against SA). And he has done well in that position as well. So one bad games keep happening.”

Following Team India’s loss to South Africa in the second T20I, assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate said that the decision to send all-rounder Axar Patel at number three was just them “trying things combination-wise”.

Speaking about this experiment during the post-match presser, Ryan said, “We are trying things combination-wise. We have eight or nine games before the T20 World Cup, and we have found ourselves three down at 35 over the last couple of months more times than we would have liked. So we are just exploring to extend our batting, the link between openers and the guys who we want to come out and smash around when things get easier.”

Most notably, Axar has batted at number five for India consistently in ODIs as of late this year, having made 358 runs in 11 innings at an average of 35.80 and a strike rate of almost 90 with a fifty. His cameos played a crucial role in the ICC Champions Trophy win this year. In six innings at the same spot in T20Is, he has made 142 runs at a SR of over 140 at an average of 23.66, with his impactful 47 against the Proteas during the T20 WC finals last year being the standout. (ANI)