Tilak has recently been promoted to T20I vice-captaincy by the BCCI selectors.
India A captain Tilak Varma said he is applying leadership lessons learned from Rohit Sharma in the ongoing tri-series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A.
The southpaw, considered quite close to Rohit and his family, keenly studies how teammates react in crunch situations to build better relationships and understand when to offer support.
Having established himself as a promising player for the white-ball formats, Tilak is seamlessly integrating into the broader leadership group overseen by the India team management. He was recently promoted to the T20I vice-captaincy.
“There have been a lot of learnings, especially around handling pressure. We came into this tournament as a group that hadn’t played together before. Everyone was coming from different teams and different IPL environments, and then suddenly they had to come together for India-A. What helped was that everyone has played enough domestic cricket,” Tilak told Sportstar in an interview.
“As a captain, the biggest learning for me has been understanding each player — how they react under pressure, what their mindset is and how to get the best out of them. I spend a lot of time with players off the field because that helps me understand them better,” he added.
“I’ve seen Rohit bhai do that with Mumbai Indians and with the Indian team. I know how important those relationships become when you’re out in the middle. I’ve tried to implement some of those things here, and it’s worked well so far," he further remarked.
The biggest test of Tilak’s tactical nous will be when India A come up against Sri Lanka A in the tri-series final in Dambulla on Sunday (June 21).
On a personal front, Tilak Varma has failed to leave a notable mark with the bat in the ongoing tri-series. The left-hander has amassed 208 runs in four innings, but with an underwhelming strike-rate of 75.09, often getting stuck while facing the spinners.
As a captain, Tilak also lost his cool in the tense Super-Over defeat against Sri Lanka A, arguing with umpires regarding bad light and a controversial no-ball decision.