‘In end overs, bowler is under more pressure’: Tilak Varma on pacing run chases

2 min readOct 29, 2026 04:33 PM IST

Tilak Varma of India plays a shot during the 4th T20I match between India and West Indies at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, India on October 14, 2026. (CREIMAS)

India vice-captain Tilak Varma has earned a reputation as a chaser in the last 12 months, with the batter showing that quality in the second T20I vs New Zealand in the ongoing series, where he and Nitish Reddy pulled off a tense chase. Ahead of the 4th T20I, Tilak opened up on how he likes to pace the chase.

“In the end overs, as a batsman, the bowler is under far more pressure than I am. That positive thought is constantly running in my head: the bowler is under more pressure, so they are bound to leak runs,” he said in a pre-match press conference on Thursday.

The Mumbai Indians batter also said that moving down from number three to five in the batting order has led to a slight change in his mindset and he now eyes boundaries from ball one instead of trying to settle in first.

“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,” he said.

“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,” he added.

With India already 3-0 up in the series, Tilak said that they have a real opportunity to go for the clean sweep.

“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,” he said.

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India will play the 4th T20I in Auckland, followed by the 5th and final match of the T20I series in Hamilton.

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