'Makram, Shamsi...': Tilak Varma Blames After India's Loss To South Africa

image-lq3po48yTilak Varma in post-match conference | Source: X.com

South Africa took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series by beating India with 5 wickets under the DLS method in the 2nd T20I held on December 12 at Port Elizabeth. 

In a rain-affected encounter, India managed to score 180/7 in 19.3 overs. The DLS method later set a target of 152 runs in 15 overs for South Africa, and they chased it down in just 13.5 overs. 

It was a tough start for Team India with Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal out for ducks. The innings got a boost from Tilak Varma, who scored 29 off 20 balls. 

Aiden Markram and Tabraiz Shamsi, however, put the brakes on India's inning, taking two crucial wickets at the backend and keeping the total below 200. 

Tabraiz Shamsi, in particular, was very impactful, bowling with an economy rate of just 4.50, while the other bowlers all went for economies higher than 9, including Captain Aiden Markram. 

Meanwhile, Tilak Varma believes that South African spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Aiden Markram exploited favourable bowling conditions to the maximum, and became the ‘game-changers’ in South Africa's convincing win over India. 


Here’s what Tilak Varma said in the post-match conference:

“I feel the wicket was on the slower side in the first innings when we batted. The new ball was slightly seaming and we never expected that the wicket would grip when Markram and Shamsi were bowling. The spell that Shamsi and Markram bowled became crucial, otherwise, we would have reached 200.” 

When questioned about the team's bowling, the Southpaw conceded that too many runs were given away in the Powerplay, while citing the challenge of a wet outfield and prevailing dew for the Indian bowlers. 

“We gave a bit of extra runs in Powerplay. We came back strongly after that but due to the wet outfield, the ball wasn’t gripping as well as we would have thought.” 

The first T20I at Durban was abandoned due to rain, and now the third and final T20I of the three-match series will be played on Thursday, December 14, at Johannesburg.