Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 23 : Ahead of his side's campaign opening clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT), Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Tilak Varma said that after representing India in international cricket, he has much bigger responsibilities on his shoulders. Last year's runners-up, the Gujarat Titans and five-time champions, the Mumbai Indians, will square off against each other in a mouth-watering campaign opening clash on Sunday at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. The fixture has gained a lot of hype because of star all-rounder Pandya's move to his former franchise, MI, following two great seasons with GT. Shubman Gill has taken over the captaincy of GT. Ahead of the fixture, Tilak said that he is looking forward to use all the things he learnt while playing for India during this IPL season. "I am looking forward to it (the match). Last year was a good season, but now, as a senior player and having played for India, I have a slightly bigger responsibility to play mature innings.
As I have said previously, I always want to finish games, and I have good knowledge and experience of it when playing for India, so I am looking forward to using it now," he said as quoted by MI's official website. Last season, in 11 matches, Tilak scored 343 runs at an average of 42.87, with a strike rate of over 164. This included a half-century and a best score of 84*. In 16 T20Is for India since his international debut last year, Tilak has scored 336 runs at an average of 33.60 and a strike rate of 139.41. He has scored two half-centuries in 15 innings, with the best score of 55*. On being asked if MI is aiming for a record-breaking sixth title this year, Tilak remarked, "Always!". After missing the last season due to injury, this will be a return season for star pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Talking about his return, Tilak said that he is someone youngsters can look up to. Bumrah has taken 148 IPL wickets in 123 IPL matches for MI. "You see, he (Bumrah) is the world's number one bowler and a very experienced bowler. Especially if you look at T20 cricket, he has got a lot of experience. Not only in T20 cricket but in every format, he is the biggest bowler for India and in world cricket, giving confidence to youngsters and the team. He is also calm under pressure, which helps the team and the youngsters like me or the bowlers and batters; you can just tell he's experienced at everything, so it helps a lot," said Tilak.
Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Mohammad Nabi, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Luke Wood, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Gopal, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Kumar Kartikeya, Shivalik Sharma, Anshul Kamboj, Akash Madhwal, Nuwan Thushara, Dewald Brevis, Kwena Maphaka, Naman Dhir Gujarat Titans Squad: Shubman Gill(c), Wriddhiman Saha(w), Sai Sudharsan, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Noor Ahmad, Kane Williamson, Matthew Wade, Jayant Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, Shahrukh Khan, Abhinav Manohar, Sharath BR, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Darshan Nalkande, Kartik Tyagi, Spencer Johnson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sushant Mishra.
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