Mumbai Indians (MI) star young batter, Tilak Varma played the helicopter shot to impress one and all. Varma finished his innings with the six and remained not out on the score of 84 runs. However, MI lost the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 8 wickets.
In the post-match discussion, Mohammad Kaif applauded the left-handed batter for his innings. Kaif mentioned Varma’s last ball six–and said if we looked through the mirror, then his helicopter shot six will give a feel of MS Dhoni. Rohit Sharma-led MI posted 171/7 in their 20 overs with the help of Tilak’s impressive knock.
Mohammad Kaif praised Tilak Varma’s all-round game in the match-
“Leg side is his strong suit. He uses his bottom hand but he makes room as well, hits sixes straight down the ground and plays the scoop shot.
“So it is not that he can only score on the leg side. The helicopter shot – if you watch it through a mirror, you will feel it is MS Dhoni because you will see him as a right-hander there,” said former Indian cricketer.
Earlier, Faf du Plessis-led RCB won the toss–and opted to bowl first, Rohit Sharma-led MI batted first–and posted a total of 171 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs. MI youngster Tilak Varma scored brilliantly 84 runs off 46 balls for his side.
This Helicopter by Tilak Varma is ?#MIvsRCB #RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/oe268hBk2T
— Vinay Rane (@6_villain_9) April 2, 2023
While in reply, RCB chased down the target with ease–and with 22 balls remaining; their star opening duo of Du Plessis and Virat Kohli added 148 runs for the opening stand. Kohli remained not out on 82 runs–and finished the game in style with a six on the last ball.
“The most difficult time was last year. Mumbai were struggling and were losing matches continuously but his bat kept on firing. So he showed that he has courage. He played for the first time for the Mumbai Indians and scored regularly and he continued that form here,” he further added.
The 20-year-old batter was bought for INR 1.7 crore by Mumbai in the IPL 2022 Auction. In his debut season, he became the youngest player to score a half-century for the MI, at 19 years and 145 days. The left-handed batter ended the IPL 2022 with 397 runs at a strike rate of 131.
In the last three editions, IPL was restricted to a handful of venues due to the threat of COVID-19.
After the completion of the 5th match, all 10 teams in IPL 2023 have started their camping. Meanwhile, on April 3 Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Chennai. CSK lost their first game against Gujarat Titans, whereas, LSG won their opener against Delhi Capitals (DC).