“Great mixture of conventional and unconventional” - Varun Aaron lauds star India batter’s performance in IND vs SL Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 game

Former India pacer Varun Aaron has applauded Tilak Varma for his performance in the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 game against Sri Lanka. The contest is underway on Friday, September 26, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Put into bat, India finished with 202/5 in 20 overs. Abhishek Sharma continued his impressive form, scoring 61 off 31 balls, while Sanju Samson made 39 off 23. Meanwhile, Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on 49 off 34, hitting four fours and one six, playing a key role in helping India cross the 200-run mark.

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, Aaron was full of praise for Tilak, highlighting his ability and saying:

“The best part of Tilak's batting is that he plays cricketing shots. So he almost removes the wicket from the equation. Because if you see somebody like Surya, when he goes into a form slump, he goes into a long form slump because he's mostly playing unconventional shots. But Tilak has a great mixture of conventional and unconventional.”

So far in the Asia Cup 2025, the southpaw has scored 144 runs in five innings at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of 132.11.

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“He has boundary shots on both sides of the pitch” - Former India opener on Tilak Varma

During the same conversation, former opener Aakash Chopra also weighed in on Tilak Varma, highlighting the 22-year-old’s ability to play all around the park. Chopra said:

“What makes Tilak Verma a special player, a player that India should persist with for a longer period of time is the fact that he's one, he understands the pulse of the game to begin with. Secondly, I feel he also has boundary shots on both sides of the pitch to a similar kind of delivery. I'm talking about the length. Against spin, he goes through covers and he's really good through the offside. And then he's got this wonderful sweep shot as well and fair amount of control on both sides.”

In his 31-game T20I career, Tilak has scored 893 runs at an average of 49.61 and a strike rate of 150.84, including three fifties and two hundreds.