3rd T20I: God has been kind, working hard on mental aspect to finish games, says Tilak Varma

Indore: India vice-captain Tilak Varma has attributed his recent success in the middle order to rigorous mental preparation and practice, as well as to the Almighty, while adding that he has been working hard on the mental aspect to finish matches for the team.

While Tilak’s finishing abilities weren’t required in Lucknow, he did slam an unbeaten 44 against the West Indies in Ranchi and smashed an unbeaten 51 in India retaining its gold medal at the Asian Games in Japan earlier this month.

"First of all, thank you for mentioning that about the Asian Games and World Cup. It always feels good whenever I hear about that. And right now, yes, God has been really kind to me. And right now, my form is also going really good.

“And definitely, if you see, the way I finished that last match (was) terrific. But at the same point, again, we are focusing on our basics. Let's see how it goes, and right now my form is good," Varma said in a pre-game chat with the broadcasters.

Addressing the shift in his batting position from the top-order to taking up responsibility of finishing games in the middle order, the left-handed batter explained that the transformation required deliberate effort both in the nets and mentally, which is still a work in progress.

"Honestly, I haven't played much at No. 4. You know, as our coach said, every batsman after... The openers are only fixed. Other than that, everyone keeps rotating. But I always say, batting up the order was my strength before, but now I got used to it since the World Cup.

“During the World Cup, I was batting at five and six. So from there, I was practising how I could finish the game from there. So mentally and in practice also, I have really worked hard. And yes, at the right moment, I have already said before that God is really kind, and yes, everything is going well," he added.

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