New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar lavished praise on the Tilak Varma’s heroics against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, saying the middle-order batter made “every ball count for something”.

India suffered major blows in the powerplay as their top-order batters- Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Suryakumar Yadav- walked back to the dugout, leaving the team in distress. Then, Varma rose to the occasion under immense pressure with an unbeaten 69 and guided India to a five-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan to win the Asia Cup for the ninth time at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

“Abhishek has played a few good knocks; to be honest, I didn’t see all the matches, but from an Indian point of view, you could say that yes. I think the knocks that Abhishek played and today’s knock, I think they were the best in the tournament. He (Varma) made every ball count for something,” Gavaksar said to India Today.

“He was knocking it for singles, running between the wickets, getting the circulation going in the legs. That helps your footwork as well. And with the left-hand, right-hand combination, the opposition captain has to look at changing the field, the bowler has to look at changing his line and length, and that eventually helps both the batters,” he added.

Varma timed his shots to perfection and ran between the wickets to take the strike as much as possible. He remained calm under pressure and anchored the innings beautifully.

Praising the 22-year-old further, Gavaskar added, “At the end of the day, in any game that goes into the final over of the game, it becomes a tight game. But who wants a tight game? You just want a win. And as far as India is concerned, they always want to win and everybody is relaxed and chill.

“Full marks to Tilak Varma for the way he played. The way he batted and looked to take singles. Even when he went for the lofted shot, it was a very calculated and carefully executed shot.”

— IANS

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