India's T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma has shifted his focus to winning the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, looking past South Zone's tough outing in the Duleep Trophy final.
Despite his team facing a massive 584-run deficit against East Zone, Tilak is confident about transitioning back to white-ball cricket ahead of the series opener in New Delhi on September 13.
"Yeah, the (personal) form has been really good. But at the same point, it's a different format (against Afghanistan). So, I should change my gears again. I'm pretty confident about it," Tilak said after the fourth day’s play in the Duleep Trophy final at Chepauk.
"My goal now is to win the Afghanistan series. So I'll be going with the same confidence and let's see how it goes," he added.
While Tilak acknowledged the challenge of switching from a month of red-ball cricket to the T20 format, he believes two days of intense practice will be enough to adjust his gears.
The southpaw attributed his confidence to the past experience of successfully transitioning from the Ranji Trophy to international white-ball series.
"I would not say it is that easy, but we have got a couple of days to practice. We have also changed from red ball to white ball in both domestic and international cricket. So, this is also the same thing.
"I have played Ranji Trophy earlier, and from there I went to the international white-ball series. I got adjusted to it. So, yeah, I'm confident that two days of practice is enough and from there we can go for the Afghanistan series," he noted.
Despite being primarily recognized for his limited-overs exploits in recent years, Tilak Varma highlighted that longer-format cricket remains his foundational strength and personal favorite.
"I have started my cricketing career professionally with red-ball cricket. But if you have seen me since the last few years, I have been playing white ball cricket a lot. But as I said, red ball has always been my favourite game, so it's my A Game. But since the last five, six years, I have been really good with the white ball also," he remarked.
Tilak has impressed one and all with his leadership credentials for India A and South Zone lately. He admitted that the experience has added another dimension to his career.
"It's been a lot of learning because if you see now, we have got quite a few youngsters (in South Zone), and also India A when I led the side, we were also quite a young side.
"When you have great talents and that eagerness to win from each and every individual, then it is easy for the captain. There are many things I can learn as a captain. I keep growing as a captain, and right now I'm just enjoying it," he said.
The 23-year-old then shared insight on his learnings as the leader. "Sometimes the conditions won't be in your favour, but how you use players then. In the white ball format when you are under pressure, who can be your player? That's very crucial for a captain.
"So, when you spend time off the field with your own teammates, you'll be knowing very much when you are under pressure, you can use which player very well," he concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)
