Hyderabad skipper, winner of the Asia Cup as well as gold medallist with India at the Asian Games 2023, Tilak Varma has carried this confidence into the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well, smashing a brilliant unbeaten 121 runs off just 69 balls against Baroda on Monday, October 23. This takes the batter's tally to 271 runs in five innings, and notching his first century of the tournament at the KL Saini Ground in Jaipur.
The 20-year-old Mumbai Indians star batter, who was appointed as the captain of Hyderabad for the premier domestic T20 tournament, came out to bat at No. 3 and remained till the end. This was also the first time in this edition of the domestic T20 tournament that his side were batting first.
During his stay at the crease, the former India U-19 star, who made his T20I debut for India against the West Indies in August and his ODI debut against Bangladesh during the Asia Cup in September, scored 16 fours and four sixes. Thanks to his batting, Hyderabad managed to post a total of 186 runs on the board for the loss of six wickets.
After his 121-run knock against Baroda, Varma has now moved to second place on the leading run-getters list in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023.
In five matches, he has remained unbeaten on four accounts. Assam all-rounder Riyan Parag, who plays for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, is the leading run-getter in the ongoing tournament. In five matches, with four fifties to his name, he has 311 runs to his name.
Tilak, who made his IPL debut for MI in 2022, was a member of the Ruturaj Gaikwad-captained Indian team that clinched a historic gold at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China. During the Asian Games 2023, Varma managed to score an impressive 55 runs off just 26 balls against Bangladesh in the semifinal held on October 6 at the Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field in Hangzhou.
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