On Saturday, after Tilak’s match-winning knock against England in the second T20I, former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar praised the youngster, drawing parallels to the legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni. Speaking on Tilak’s innings, Manjrekar elaborated about how he kept his cool until the end, a calmness characteristic of MS Dhoni in his playing days. Tilak’s 72 runs, off 55 balls, guided India to a four-ball victory after chasing down 166 runs with the other wickets tumbling around him.
“He had absolutely no panic against that kind of confidence he would see India through to the end. Even later on into the innings, in the 19th over, you could sense the pressure building in that India wasn’t getting that boundary which could propel them through. But he was very much at ease with the situation and happy to see him through till the end. It seems the person who is confident, and it will feel like the way he can take his team through, is just like we had a former legend in the name of MS Dhoni, who had the same feeling. So when you have someone like him coming in at No. 3, he might be taking on that, which is not such a bad thing,” Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.
Since his T20I debut in August 2023, he has been touted as one of India’s best young prospects in this format in the preceding months too. Sit in at No. 3 in that South Africa series; it went well for him, registering back-to-back centuries.
A reflective Tilak spoke about the pressure of the final overs of the chase; he said it was always in his mind to see it through till the end.
Gautam said to me, “In the last innings, 10 runs in an over may be chased down. When you need 7-8 runs, you are very important. You have to try and see that you are there till the end. Let the non-striker score. You can get one or two boundaries and take singles.”
“If you play till the end, we are bound to win, he told me that in the last match too. And even today, during the drinks break, he told me whatever happens, you have got to play until the end. So that was in my mind, I thought I’d play until the end and somehow win the game,” Tilak told the reporters.