I think about hitting a boundary off the first ball: Tilak on adapting to batting at No. 5

Auckland: India vice-captain Tilak Varma opened up on how moving down from number three to five in the batting order has changed his approach as the left hander, who initially used to take time to settle, now thinks of hitting boundaries from the first ball.

Tilak started out in India's T20I team at the No. 3 spot, but recently, he has been playing the role of a finisher at number 5 or even No. 6. In the second T20I against New Zealand, he pulled off a tense chase batting alongside Nitish Reddy.

"I already had the power game; I have scored runs at number three as well. Now, batting at number five or six, I think about going for a boundary off the very first ball only if it's there to be hit. Otherwise, I focus on taking the game deep. I take a bit more time. Initially, I focus on singles and doubles, finding gaps for fours or two runs," Tilak said ahead of the fourth T20I.

In the second T20I, Tilak smashed a match-changing and unbeaten 51 from 26 balls to guide India to a much-impressive four-wicket win with a successful chase of a strong 181 in Christchurch with one ball remaining.

“In the end overs, as a batter, the bowler is under far more pressure than I am. That positive thought is constantly running in my head, that the bowler is under more pressure, so they are bound to leak runs," he added.

Reflecting on his match-winning, unbroken 69-run stand for the seventh wicket with Reddy at the Hagley Oval, he added, "I just told Nitish, 'if we pull the match off from here, it’s going to be immense fun. Let’s just stay out there, take the game deep, and see what happens'."

India arrived in New Zealand after a home T20I series against the West Indies, leaving little time to adjust to different conditions. Tilak said it was not easy to adjust to the conditions and the time zone, adding that the demanding schedule could not become an excuse.

"At this level, we cannot make excuses. We are at the highest level, and we need to set standards for the youngsters who look up to us," he said. "Gautam sir made it clear in team meetings that this is a long tour and the standard we set as a T20 side will provide momentum for the ODI and Test squads," he added.

India sealed the five-match series with two games to go after openers Abhishek Sharma (113) and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (45), stitching together a powerplay display for the record books, piling on 118 runs in six overs as they chased down 199 runs off just 13.2 overs in the third T20I in Wellington.

"We are thinking this is a great opportunity to achieve a clean sweep. The next goal is to win the upcoming match and give the Indian crowd a great chance to witness a 5-0 series win," said Tilak.

With India 3-0 up in the T20I series, the two teams will lock horns in the fourth T20I on Friday in Auckland.

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