Why the Tilak Varma-Sanju Samson partnership against Sri Lanka at Asia Cup was important for India | Cricket News

They no longer would be; for Tilak and Sanju, en route to their 66-run stand off 42 balls, exhibited the multi-layered skills their roles entail. They could not run riot, because India had lost three wickets in nine overs; but at the same time, they had to sustain the frenetic start Abhishek Sharma had conjured. They had to rotate strike as dot balls are stringently scrutinised, and hit the occasional boundary. It’s an unenviable juggle of different worlds. In the past, both Sanju and Tilak have worn criticism for their varied deficiencies, exacerbated by the reality that both are primarily top-order batsmen. All three of Sanju’s hundreds had arrived when he had opened. Tilak once requested Suryakumar to let him bat at one drop or further higher. But great teams require selfless compromises. Suryakumar has reiterated this point several times. “Just the first two spots are fixed. From 3 to 8, anyone should be able to bat anywhere,” he had said. As has coach Gautam Gambhir and assistant Ryan Ten Doeschate.

India’s Sanju Samson plays a shot during the Asia Cup cricket match between India and Oman at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo)

Both have slowly grown into their new roles. Before the game, Tilak told the host broadcasters about learning to bat in different positions: “Since the last couple of years I have batted at different positions. Gauti sir said to be flexible, and I try to play according to the situation.” Ahead of the Bangladesh game, Sanju drew a parallel with legendary Malayalam actor Mohanlal. “There’s our actor, Mohanlal. He has been an actor for 20, 30, 40 years. I have been playing for India for 10 years. So, I can’t come in and say ‘I only can do the hero role.’ I need to be a villain. I need to be a joker. I need to play around,” Samson told Sony Sports Network. “You can’t say that you have scored runs in the opening position and you are really good in the top three spots. I feel let me try this also. No one can say why I can’t be a good villain. Let’s see how it goes.”

He and Tilak played the support cast roles to perfection, ensuring that the momentum imparted by Abhishek’s breezy 61 off 31 was not lost. Tilak deftly rotated the strike, a nudge there, a glide here. He ran briskly with long strides. The sweep was his most effective line-disrupting tool. Intermittently, he showed his boundary-hitting range. He manufactured room by moving outside the leg-stump and fleeced Charith Asalanka through extra cover. Then came the six off Asalanka. He relished the paced offerings of Dushmantha Chameera, who he lashed through covers and lapped behind the keeper. He is more comfortable trading boundaries off seamers, but he is no slouch against the spinners either.

Similarly, Sanju was accused of struggling against spinners in the middle overs. In the past, Wanindu Hasaranga tormented him. He laboured in the chase against Pakistan too. But here he didn’t let spinners boss him. Just the third ball he faced, he dumped Hasaranga’s googly to the square-leg fence. Later, with a mere extension of his bat-swing, he hit the sightscreen. The refinement of his power game was on full evidence. He then moved his front leg aside and cleared the straight fence again. Another six roared off his blade, a short ball of medium pacer Dasun Shanaka was mercilessly slung over midwicket. They did not score off merely six balls.

Similarities, rather than dissimilarities, define them. Tilak might be taller, Sanju the stockier. Both are back-foot dominant with a predilection for the off side. When they go leg side, they usually prefer the expanses along the midwicket region. Sweep is Tilak’s favourite weapon to neuter a spinner; Sanju’s is the cut. Both, though, prefer pace on the ball.

Their blossoming could not have been better timed, coming as it is when Suryakumar is ploughing through a rough patch. He is enjoying his captaincy, leading a merry team merrily, and making a strong team stronger. But his batting has seldom hit the high notes of his pre-captaincy days. As captain, he has averaged only 26.82 in 25 innings, a modest number still, but a sizable drop from a career average of 38.08. Only five times has he tallied more than 50 runs in an innings. Since the World Cup triumph, he has crossed 30-plus only thrice in 18 innings. Yet again a decent number, but for a decent player. Suryakumar is T20 batting royalty. But Suryakumar’s indifferent form has not blown into a crisis. His batting colleagues have not let it stick out. That is what great teams do. They cover up each other’s flaws and bad times, they sacrifice their favourite roles for the role that suits the team, performing their parts to perfection. Like Tilak and Sanju on Friday.