India will take on Pakistan in the 2026 T20 World Cup on February 15 at the R Premedasa Stadium in Colombo. Before the match, Tilak Varma shared his experience of playing against the Men in Green in the Asia Cup final. The southpaw played a winning innings against Salman Ali Agha’s side in the final.

India collapsed at 20/3 while chasing a target of 147. Tilak Varma stepped in between Pakistan’s victory and India’s defeat. In the 2025 Asian Cup final, the left-hander showed amazing temperament and remained unbeaten with 53 balls and 69 balls, leading the Blue Jackets across the finish line and helping them extend their ninth Asian Cup championship in team history to the top.

Tilak Varma shares Asia Cup final experience

In a candid interview with GQ India, Tilak said, “I was sweating even before I came out to bat. India had won both games against Pakistan; everyone expected India to win easily again, but this is Dubai, this is the final, against Pakistan. Their bowling attack was so good, all I was thinking was: we can’t lose this game.”

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Tilak Varma brings all the experience of IPL as he played many innings for Mumbai Indians in the toughest T20 league in the world. He further said, “I’ve been doing this since I was a kid, I’ve done this for Mumbai Indians, I’ve made a name for myself in playing under pressure.” He spoke matter-of-factly and every word was as precise as the ball coming out of the bat when he was giving it his all.

Tilak uses his IPL experience to take India across the finish line

The left-handed batsman concluded: “I kept telling myself that I will do this; no matter what happens, I will win the game for the country. I just followed my heart and not my thoughts. There was a lot going on in my head but I was just breathing. I looked at the India logo on the jersey and what it meant to me. I also knew that God was with me. So, yes, everything went well.”

Shivam Dube also played an important role in this match, scoring 33 off 22 balls, partnering with Tilak in the Indian team’s woes. After a brilliant innings against Pakistan, he averaged 92 for India’s successful chase in T20Is. Tilak Varma looked good in his first game against the United States but failed to convert into big scores.

Tilak Varma the key to India’s success?

Tilak Varma is India’s third-best batsman in the shortest format after the 2024 T20 World Cup. In this position, he hit two hundreds and three hundreds at an average of 56.70, scoring 567 runs in 16 innings with a strike rate of 160.62.

He will be looking to find his rhythm and score against Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday to regain his confidence ahead of a thrilling match against Pakistan. The Indian team has won 5 consecutive games against Pakistan in all competitions.

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