TILAK THE TITAN

Indian cricket's rising star Tilak Varma is burning bright.

- BY JAMIE ALTER PHOTOGRAPHS BY NISHANTH RADHAKRISHNAN STYLED BY OJAS KOLVANKAR

TILAK VARMA PLAYED the T20I innings of 2025: an unbeaten 69 runs off 53 deliveries against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final. India was 10/2 and then 20/3 in pursuit of a target of 147—small by today’s standards—but its chase had started to derail. Meanwhile, Pakistan, who lost against Suryakumar Yadav’s team in the first two rounds of the tournament, suddenly looked transformed after taking three wickets.

But Varma is no stranger to high-pressure situations. Naturally aggressive, on that night in Dubai, the 23-year-old had to recalibrate. He smiles when asked about the moment he took guard to face his first ball. “I was sweating even before I entered to bat,” he reveals. “India had won both games against Pakistan before that; everyone was expecting India to win easily again, but it’s Dubai, it’s the final, it’s against Pakistan. They had such a good bowling attack, and all I was thinking was: we can’t lose this game.”

In those moments, Varma calmed himself by recalling his teenage years, when he won matches for his school and academy, for Hyderabad in the Under-14 to Under-17 categories, and at the district and zonal levels. “I’ve done this since I was a child, I've done this for the Mumbai Indians, I’ve made a name for myself playing under pressure,” he says matter-of-factly, each word as precise as the shots that flow from his bat when he’s on song. “I kept telling myself, I will do it; whatever happens, I will win the game for the country. I was just listening to my heart, not my mind. There was so much going on in my head, but I was just breathing. I looked at the India logo on my jersey and what it means to me. I also knew that God was with me. So yeah, everything went well.”