Kolkata, February 28 India's assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate firmly believes that Tilak Varma is ideally suited to bat at number six, giving the hosts the necessary firepower at the end of the innings.
However, this is not necessarily the case in the virtual "quarter-final" against the West Indies in the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
After a lackluster first five games in the competition, where the stylish Mumbai Indians batter struggled at number five with a strike rate of 120, the team management decided to send him to number six against Zimbabwe.
He took to his new role like a fish to water, smashing a 44 off 16 balls with four sixes and three boundaries at an astounding strike rate of 275.
"No, it's not a foregone conclusion that he'll bat at five or six tomorrow. I thought the other night, Tilak, he looked like a number six. He looked like someone who's really comfortable at a 10-over entry point," Ten Doeschate replied to a
After struggling to get off the blocks, Tilak did look comfortable at the back end of the Indian innings as he smashed the Zimbabwe attack.
"I thought that was to look back to his old Tilak and play the situation beautifully. So it's comforting to know that we have a little bit more power down the middle," Ten Doeschate said.
Ten Doeschate feels that the West Indies might bring back left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein against India and play the catch-up game.
"They (West Indies) might play Chase. They might play Akeal. We kind of bank on them playing Chase. So we have got different entry points for the guys ideally where they come in," Ten Doeschate said.
Ten Doeschate also wanted to cut Tilak some slack, considering he had undergone abdominal surgery and missed four weeks of competitive cricket.
"I mentioned before, spending four weeks on the sideline, coming into the tournament and slowly building up is kind of what you expect," the assistant coach observed.
"Like I always say, the link between getting out of the blocks quickly and setting up for the back end is the key to India's success. And it's nice to know that Tilak can perform those roles," Ten Doeschate said.
