21 April,2026 01:56 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Tilak Varma (Pic: X/@mipaltan)
In the IPL 2026 match against Gujarat Titans (GT), Mumbai Indians (MI) secured a dominating victory by 99 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
During the match, MI's Tilak Varma delivered a crucial knock of an unbeaten 101 runs off just 45 deliveries. His knock also included eight boundaries and seven maximums.
This was his maiden ton in the history of the cash-rich league.
Reflecting on his knock, he said that the first century will always be special and every match is an important game for the "Paltan".
"Of course, the first 100 will always be special. It was very important for us. We don't have much time from here. Every game is important for us," he said during the post-match presentation.
The left-handed batsman then explained how he took time to settle in the first 20 balls and later played according to the match's situation.
"Last five games, I haven't had much time in the middle. So, in this game, I wanted to spend time in the middle. So you saw the first 20 balls, I was just batting ball by ball. And then later on, I knew the ability I have. I was just seeing the situation and what the team needs, and I was just stable and keeping my head still and following my basics," said Varma.
"I have all the fancy shots. But when the team is under pressure, it's just about backing your skills, and today it's given me good results," he added.
This was MI's second win of the tournament. Currently, they are placed in the seventh position with two wins and four defeats. The Hardik Pandya-led team also has a net run rate (NRR) of +0.067 and four points.
The "Men in Blue and Gold" will now gear up to lock horns with fierce rivals, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), on April 23 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (wk), Ryan Rickelton (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Atharva Ankolekar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande, Mohammad Izhar, Raghu Sharma.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Urvil Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Prashant Veer, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Zak Foulkes, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Gurjapneet Singh, Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar.
(With ANI Inputs)
