Indian vice-captain Tilak Varma has opened up about his run-out in the third T20I against the West Indies at Holkar Stadium in Indore, saying a flash on the boundary hoardings made him think the ball reached the boundary.
The middle-order batter was run out for 28 runs off 16 balls after Axar played a full-toss on his pads from Gudakesh Motie towards the deep backward square-leg fence. However, Kamil Pooran stopped the ball before reaching the fence. Interestingly, Axar and Tilak strolled in the middle of the pitch, thinking that the ball had already reached the boundary.
“People are saying a lot of things about the run out. Actually, there was a flash on the hoardings behind the boundary. When the flash came, I thought the ball hit the hoarding and came back inside. Not only me, even Axar felt the same. That’s why both of us stopped together. Both of us felt the same [that it was a four],” Tilak said in the press conference.
“Unfortunately, the ball was thrown at Axar’s end. I was at the non-striker’s end, so I couldn’t see the ball. My teammates were screaming from outside, asking me to get back into the crease. If Axar had known, he could also have told me to run. But since, I thought it was a boundary, I was walking. It happens. But, in the future, I will keep running until the umpire signals a boundary,” he added.
“I am the man who always wants to take pressure. Right now, my role is to handle the middle order, and I can take my time and take the game deep,” he concluded.
Delving into the details of the game, India was tasked with batting first and they posted a whopping total of 223 in 20 overs. Abhishek Sharma (69 off 30) was the top scorer. Roston Chase, Shamar Joseph and Shamar Springer scalped two wickets apiece.
In response, West Indies could score 209/7 in 20 overs. Kamil Pooran (42), Shimron Hetmyer (43) and Shamar Springer (35*) were the top scorers.
