Tilak Varma was the Player of the final for India in their Asia Cup 2025 win.
Chasing 146 to win the title in Dubai, India quickly fell to 20/3. Tilak then made two crucial partnerships with Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, helping India cross the finish line in the final over. Tilak possibly produced the best knock of his career to assist the Men in Blue defeat the Men in Green by five wickets and win the Asia Cup for the tenth time in a row.
In a video shared by the Mumbai Indians on X, Surya said that the young left-handed batter from Hyderabad showed who he really is as a player during the final.
“When we were in South Africa (in November 2024) and he scored two centuries, we got to know that Tilak Varma has arrived. But he showed us the real Tilak Varma in the (Asia Cup) final. He showed us what the real Tilak Varma is," Surya said in conversation with journalist Vimal Kumar.
He also attributed the Mumbai Indians with Tilak's growth as a cricketer. Surya compares MI to a gurukul, and Tilak has learned how to deliver in difficult situations while playing in the IPL with MI.
‘All of us – me, Bumrah, Tilak, Rohit Bhai, and Hardik – before India, we play for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. The Mumbai Indians are like a gurukul. The Mumbai Indians are a gurukul where they make players. Hum waha par aise pressure situation mei batting karte and vo sab jo pressure hota hai hum try karte hai replicate karne ka jab hum India ko khelte hai tab. So, when he played for India, he was already prepared. Tilak knew that he had played in such pressure situations before and had played good knocks in such situations before. I have been in such situations before. So, I know what needs to be done,” Surya said.
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Surya also praised Tilak’s game awareness and discipline.
“If anyone has noticed, then the reverse sweep and switch hit are his favourite shots. It is so favourite that he can’t live without playing it. But if you see, he didn’t play that shot even once in the final. So those things, the discipline that I am talking about… To bring it at such a young age, I think it’s creditable.
And the way he controlled the situation (in the final), although he was playing ball-to-ball, sometimes the ball was more and the runs were less, but he knew. And when the first drinks break happened, Gauti Bhai had gone in, and he told him to play comfortably till the end. He told him to just stand there, and he would win the game. And he did that,” he added.
Tilak Varma will be in action for the Indian team when they tour Australia for a five-T20I series.