Team India star Tilak Varma has drawn wide appreciation for his performance in the shortest format of the game. In the IND vs ENG T20I series, Tilak Varma has played exceptionally well. Former India star Sanjay Manjrekar has drawn parallels with MS Dhoni crediting Tilak Varma’s style in finishing matches for the country.
Tilak Varma gave the finishing touches in India’s chase in both Kolkata and Chennai as the hosts lead the series 2-0. Manjrekar also concluded that Tilak had secured the number 3 spot after Virat Kohli retired from T20Is. Coming to MS Dhoni, Manjrekar added that Tilak has the ability to finish games for his country despite batting up the order.
We had a MS Dhoni – Manjrekar
“Absolutely. The confidence he has that he will be able to see India through the very end and even in this run chase, there was no panic around the 18th over. Even in the 19th over, you could see that India wasn’t getting the boundary that could take the pressure off. But he was quite happy to virtually be there till the end,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo’s Timeout.
Sanjay Manjrekar then proceeded to draw a comparison with India Cricket Team captain MS Dhoni. Over the years, Dhoni has been dubbed as the greatest finisher of the game in white-ball cricket. And now Manjrekar believes that watching Tilak is like looking at Dhoni, except the southpaw now bats up the order at number 3.
“It seems the guy who is confident and being the man who can take his team through, just like we had a legend in the past in the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who had the same confidence. So, when you have a player like him, batting at No.3, he might be taking on that role, which is not such a bad thing,” Manjrekar concluded.
Tilak Varma vs MS Dhoni stats while chasing in T20Is
| Player | Mat | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| Tilak Varma | 10 | 279 | 72* | 69.75 | 143.81 | 2 | 20 | 16 |
| MS Dhoni | 46 | 668 | 49 | 47.71 | 127.96 | 0 | 43 | 24 |
As for the stats, Tilak Varma currently has a better strike rate compared to the great MS Dhoni. If the stats are compared while chasing, Tilak has played 10 games thus far. On the other hand, MS Dhoni has played a massive 46 games. Tilak has a strike rate of 143.81 with a very good average of 69.75. Meanwhile, Dhoni has an average of 47.71 with a good strike rate of 127.96.
