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'If he had got 50 or 60 India would have...': Wasim Jaffer hails 'impressive' star in 1st T20I vs West Indies
The first T20I ended with a five-wicket defeat for India as the West Indies took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
India were stunned by the West Indies in the first T20I on Thursday, losing to the two-time T20 World Cup champions by four wickets despite being the heavy favourites going into the match. The five-match T20I series is the final leg of India's tour of the Caribbean and they had hardly met with any serious challenges for much of it, despite fielding a second string team in the preceding ODI series and the second Test ending in a draw after the final day was washed out.
India failed to chase down a target of 150 after restricting the West Indies to a score of 149/6 in Trinidad and Tobago. However, India looked on track at one point in the innings when debutant Tilak Varma was finding the boundary with relative ease. Tilak scored 39 off 22 balls in an innings that included two fours and and three sixes before falling to Romario Shepherd.
Former India batter Wasim Jaffer noted that Tilak did not seem to display any nerves at all despite this being his first international innings. “He looked impressive. There were no nerves at all. The way he started, it seemed like he was playing a club game or for his state team. No pressure at all. He came out and backed his game. That’s the good thing about him - it shows that he’s mentally very strong. He was the only one who looked very comfortable on this pitch," said Jaffer on ESPNCricinfo.
“The shots that he played, not just the big ones, even the slices through third man and the other shots, shows that he was in good form. He would be disappointed that he couldn’t score 20-odd more runs. If Varma had got 50 or 60, India would have got home. Sanju Samson’s run-out also cost them. He was looking good,” he added.
Pandya all praise for Tilak
India captain Hardik Pandya praised Tilak and fast bowler Mukesh Kumar, who had also made his T20I debut in the match. “Brilliant. First of all Mukesh, to have the two weeks he has had here where he made is debut in all three formats is really good. Genuinely, he's a nice guy. He has a very good heart, a big heart, wants to contribute for the team. He bowled a couple of overs back to back and that was fantastic,” said Pandya in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Tilak - very pleasing to see the way he started his innings. Not a bad way to start your international cricket with a couple of sixes. You can see the confidence and the fearlessness they have. Going forward, they are going to do wonders for India,” he further said.
