Tilak Varma goes past Virat Kohli, scripts new world record during IND vs ENG 2nd T20I in Chennai

Tilak Varma scripted history in Chennai on Saturday as he guided India to a thrilling two-wicket victory over England in the second T20I at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Chasing 166 runs to win, India were seven down for 126 in the 15th over but Tilak Varma kept his cool to guide the Men in Blue home with four balls to spare and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

During his stay at the crease, the southpaw remained unbeaten at 72 off 55 balls, which included four fours and five mind-boggling sixes. In the process, Tilak Varma broke a few records and extended his unbeaten run in the shortest format to four consecutive matches.

In his last four innings, Tilak Varma scored 107 not out, 120 not out, 19 not out and 72 not out, thus becoming the first batter in the world to amass 300-plus T20I runs without getting dismissed, bettering New Zealand’s Mark Chapman.

Top 5 batters with most T20I runs between 2 dismissals

318 (107*, 120*, 19*, 72*) – Tilak Varma (India)

271 (65*, 16*, 71*, 104*, 15) – Mark Chapman (New Zealand)

240 (68*, 172) – Aaron Finch (Australia)

240 (57*, 74*, 73*, 36) – Shreyas Iyer (India)

239 (100*, 60*, 57*, 2*, 20) – David Warner (Australia)

That’s not all. Tilak Varma also broke Virat Kohli’s record for most runs by an Indian batter in T20Is across four innings. The former India captain, who retired from T20Is last year, had scored 258 runs (72 not out, 77, 66, 43) in the 2014-2015 season. The Tilak-Virat duo is followed by Sanju Samson (257), Rohit Sharma (253), and Shikhar Dhawan (252).

After Chennai win, the Indian bandwagon will travel to Rajkot where they will play the third T20I against England. A win there will secure the series for the Men in Blue and extend Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten record as a head coach in the shortest format.