Hailing from Aligarh, Rinku, the left-handed KKR player, has earned acclaim for his knack of sealing games at the franchise level, showcasing a similar composed demeanor in international fixtures.
In the recent first T20 International against Australia, although his crucial six wasn’t counted due to a no-ball from Nathan Ellis, Rinku’s calmness during the death overs has garnered praise from all quarters.
“I am learning how to finish games from Rinku as he is doing it consistently for India. I also want to do and hopefully in coming matches I will be doing that,” Tilak said ahead of India’s second T20 International in the five-match series.
Tilak, who is also a southpaw like Rinku, has already made an impression in the 11 T20Is he has played for the country, with two half-centuries and a strike-rate of 140-plus to his credit.
“There is no pressure of expectation on me. I just have a role and I have to fulfil that role for the team. My role at No. 5 is, if it’s in my arc, I will go for it or else just rotate strike,” said Tilak.
He then explained what he was asked to do in the last game.
“Last match, in that situation a leg-spinner was bowling, I wanted to take charge as we needed 10 per over in that situation, so it was decided I will go at the leg-spinner and for fast bowler, settled batsman Surya bhai was batting,” he said.
While his main aim is to remain consistent, Tilak also said that he hasn’t worked on any specific areas during the time the senior team was busy playing the ODI World Cup.
“Before this series, I played in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy and my performance was good and I was confident, so I haven’t worked in any specific areas but aim is to continue the good form,” said Tilak, who was his team’s top run-getter with 288 runs at a healthy strike-rate of 143, which also included a hundred and a fifty.
There is a certain amount of comfort level that Tilak enjoys while playing under Suryakumar Yadav and he enjoyed his skipper’s performance (80 off 42 balls) in the opening ODI.
“I have already played under Suryakumar Yadav. In IPL, he captained one match for Mumbai Indians. He is very calm and clear in his thoughts, he did very good captaincy and in the last match, played in tough situation, he managed well,” Tilak further added.
There is a leadership streak in Tilak and he doesn’t mind slipping in a suggestion or two for senior captains like Rohit Sharma or Surya.
“All 11 members need to be involved, every player gets thoughts and passes it on and it rests on the captain, which suggestions he wants to take.”
Asked how the team is looking at Sunday’s second T20I, and also if it’s payback time for the Aussies for defeating India in the World Cup final, Tilak answered in the negative.
“We just want to go with the flow and take it one game at a time,” he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)