Tilak Varma wanted to “express” himself better as a batter. So he requested India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav for a promotion in the batting order. Surya
granted his wish and Varma repaid the faith in the best possible manner.

Varma, who batted at No. 4 in Durban and Gqueberha scoring 33 and 20, respectively, went in at No. 3 in Centurion on Wednesday. He made the most of the opportunity scoring a match-winning century for India, who lead the four-match series 2-1.

Captain Surya, who usually bats at No. 3, said after India’s 11-run win in Centurion: “In Gqeberha, he (Varma) came to my room and said, ‘Give me the opportunity to bat at No. 3. Let me express myself’.”

After reaching his century off just 51 balls, his second fifty coming in just 19 balls, Varma pointed towards the dugout and blew a flying kiss. “It was for ‘SKY’, our skipper, because he gave me a chance to bat at No. 3,” Varma said.

“I love batting at No. 3, but in the last two matches, I played at No. 4. Last night (Tuesday) he (Surya) came to my room and said that ‘You will bat No. 3... it’s a
good opportunity. Go and express yourself’.

“I told him, ‘You have given me an opportunity, I will show you on the ground’,” Varma, the second-youngest centurion in T20Is for India, said in gratitude.

Varma’s innings of 107 off 56 balls had seven sixes and eight fours. He added 107 runs with another youngster Abhishek Sharma, who scored a half-century after a string
of failures.

“The team backed us even when we flopped. They told us to play the brand of cricket the Indian team is known for and the skipper and the management (interim head coach VVS Laxman) said, “Bindaas khelna... Agar wicket gire tab bhi (Play freely even if you lose a wicket),” Varma said.

The last match of the series will be played on Friday in Johannesburg. India will hope their batters to dominate the Proteas bowlers once again.

Besides Varma, Sanju Samson also has a century to show in this series. But that came in the first game and since then, he has hardly got runs. The experienced keeper-better will hope to get runs on Friday.

Also, Rinku Singh has had a quiet series so far. One isn’t sure if he is coming out too
late to make a meaningful contribution, but the Indian
team management must give it a thought.

Skipper Surya will hope to clinch the series with a victory. He has an excellent victory percentage of 81.25 as a captain, having come up trumps in 13 out of the 16 matches he has led in.