Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth praised Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma after the five-time champions clinched a thumping 99-run win against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday.
Varma, who had failed to bring his best in the first five games, scored a stunning knock of 101 runs off just 45 balls, equaling Sanath Jayasuriya’s record of fastest hundred for MI in the IPL.
The left-hander scored eight fours and seven sixes in his blistering knock as he scored at a strike rate of 224.44. Thus, Varma played an instrumental role in helping MI post 199 runs on the board and was awarded Player of the Match.
“He almost scored a boundary off every ball in the second half of his innings. There was a strategic timeout after which he went berserk. There must have been something spoken there. His onslaught first started against Prasidh Krishna. It’s an amazing turnaround for Tilak Varma. Despite being under pressure, he made sure to get his eye in. After that, he saw it like a football,” said Srikkanth on his YouTube Channel.
Srikkanth rated Varma’s knock as the best of IPL 2026.
“To me, this was the best knock of this IPL. Considering the situation where they were struggling with the bat and had lost early wickets, and it being a must-win game for MI, this was the best knock of IPL 2026 so far. Even with Hardik Pandya there, only he was scoring. It was a proper one-man show.”
On the other hand, the 1983 World Cup-winning player questioned Hardik Pandya for batting ahead of in-form Sherfane Rutherford. Srikkanth reckons the West Indies batter is not getting enough deliveries, and it would make sense to play all-rounder Corbin Bosch ahead of him. Pandya was dismissed after scoring 15 runs off 16 balls whereas Rutherford faced only two deliveries.
He concluded, “The ball isn’t meeting his bat at all. He scratched around fully again. Given Sherfane Rutherford is coming so late after him, if I was MI, I would have played Corbin Bosch instead of Rutherford. The one over Rutherford came to bat, even Santner could have done. Anyway, Rutherford can’t do anything against the yorker length delivery. I wouldn’t have played him in the 11 at all.”
Mumbai Indians will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
