'I think about going for a boundary off the very first ball…': Tilak Varma

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Team India is set to take on New Zealand in the fourth T20I match on October 30 at the Eden Park in Auckland.

Ahead of the match, Team India’s star batsman Tilak Varma spoke about his game plans. He said that coming to bat at number five or six, he thinks of scoring a boundary on the very first ball.

“I already had the power game; I have scored runs at number three as well. Now, batting at number five or six, I think about going for a boundary off the very first ball only if it’s there to be hit,” he said.

“Otherwise, I focus on taking the game deep. I take a bit more time. Initially, I focus on singles and doubles, finding gaps for fours or two runs,” added Varma.

The left-handed batsman also said that he likes to play with the psyche of the bowlers, who are under more pressure than batsmen.

“In the end overs, as a batsman, the bowler is under far more pressure than I am. That positive thought is constantly running in my head, that the bowler is under more pressure, so they are bound to leak runs,” said the 23-year-old cricketer.

On the other hand, New Zealand has suffered a major blow as star pacer Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the remainder of the T20I series against the “Men in Blue”.

He sustained a calf injury during the second T20I match, following which he will be out of action for the fourth and fifth T20I matches against Team India.

The New Zealand Cricket (NZC) released a statement saying that Ferguson will require another week to recover.

The visitors have already sealed the series by 3-0, and will look for a whitewash in the shortest format’s series before engaging in the five-match ODI series against the “Black Caps”.

IND vs NZ 4th T20I: Full squads

India: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [WK], Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Tilak Varma [VC], Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Kumar Kushagra [WK].

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Matt Henry, Glenn Phillips, Zak Foulkes, Michael Bracewell, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner (C), Bevon Jacobs, Jacob Duffy, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Seifert, Mark Chapman, Kyle Jamieson, Devon Conway, Nathan Smith, Matt Fisher.

(With PTI Inputs)

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