Duleep Trophy: Played A Lot Of White-ball Cricket, But Red Ball Remains My Favourite Format, Says Tilak

Duleep Trophy: Played a lot of white-ball cricket, but red ball remains my favourite format, says Tilak (Bengaluru: Duleep Trophy Semifinal - North Zone vs South Zone)

Duleep Trophy: Having played white-ball games for India, left-handed batter Tilak Varma on Wednesday expressed a strong desire to play Test cricket for the national side, calling the longest format as his ‘favourite’ format to play the sport.

Tilak has been in sparkling red-ball form for South Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy, via making 116 not out, 51 not out, and now hitting 99 in the ongoing final against East Zone at Chepauk on Wednesday.

"Playing red-ball cricket for India is my biggest goal because I love red-ball cricket. I thought as a kid, I'll be playing Test cricket first and after that only white-ball cricket. I'm really keen to play red-ball cricket and let's see how it goes.

"I wouldn't necessarily say it cricket comes naturally. But I began my professional journey in red-ball cricket and played for many years with the red ball. Over the past few seasons, I've played a lot of white-ball cricket, but red ball remains my favourite format - it's my A game," Tilak told reporters at the end of day four’s play.

Tilak suffered a heartbreaking dismissal when he was caught and bowled on 99 off 211 balls, leading to him missing out on a well-deserved ninth first-class century as South Zone were bowled out for 336 in response to East Zone's massive first-innings total of 708. Despite the personal disappointment, Tilak remained pragmatic.

“The result has gone in their favour, so scoring a hundred or being not out doesn’t matter to me. A hundred might have been something for working hard, but cricket is a funny game. You never know what is in the coming games. It's an important knock for me, but at the same point, I was only focused on what the team needed.

"I could have taken more chances before itself, but the plan was simply to take it session-by-session. Cricket is a funny game - if you can bat out a session and if some other batsman stays with me, I was confident we could take it session-by-session and push for a draw. Unfortunately, we lost wickets, and the result went in their favour," he added.

Currently serving as South Zone captain after previously leading India A, Tilak noted that leadership responsibility has accelerated his growth as a cricketer. "There has been a lot of learnings. If you see, there are youngsters and also India A, we're a young side as well. One game we lost there and again we got back.

“You have great talent in the team and when you have that talent and eagerness to win, then it's easier as a captain to win tournaments. So, captaining India A, domestic and again here, there are many and I'm growing as a captain and enjoying it.

"Sometimes, conditions won't always be in your favour, so it's about how you use your players as a captain. One of the lessons I've learned is the importance of understanding your players off the field. When you spend time with your team-mates and know how they think, you can know who can be your player under pressure," he elaborated.

“You have great talent in the team and when you have that talent and eagerness to win, then it's easier as a captain to win tournaments. So, captaining India A, domestic and again here, there are many and I'm growing as a captain and enjoying it.

“I wouldn’t say that easy, but we have got a couple of days to practice. When you have practiced enough, changing from domestic to international, red-ball to white-ball, you can change your mindset. I’m confident that two days of practice is enough.”

Article Source: IANS