India batter Tilak Varma admitted that the ongoing white-ball tour of Ireland and England has been a challenging test for the young Indian side. The batter cited the vastly different playing conditions after spending the last two years playing mostly in Asia as one of the key factors behind the recent performance slump. While acknowledging the expectations that come with representing India, Tilak stressed that adapting quickly to overseas conditions against a quality England team has been far from easy.

“(Shreyas) Iyer bhai is leading a successful team, so there will be responsibilities and expectations. Conditions in Ireland were very different. Over the last two years, we played mostly in Asia and then when you travel overseas and face a good team like England, like we saw how they played in the T20 World Cup semi-finals. Facing a good team in different conditions will always have its set of challenges and expectations,” Tilak told BCCI in a video.

The batter further added that despite all the hardships, the team has tried to keep a healthy and positive environment within the squad. “Keeping that in mind, we have to stay calm under pressure, and we should always create a positive energy within the team. Our mindset is that irrespective of the results we have to create a positive atmosphere in the dressing room and back each other. It's just a matter of one match or one series to get back the momentum. We'll take the learnings from the last series and execute them here in the series in Zimbabwe,” he added.

Tilak Varma Responds to Strike-Rate Criticism, Says He Can Adapt to Any Role

The left-hander faced scrutiny from the media regarding his strike-rate. He scored 178 runs in seven T20Is across the UK tour at a strike rate of 131.85. While he scored two half-centuries, 55 against Ireland in the second T20I and 53 against England in the fifth and final T20I questions were raised over his approach in the middle overs. Tilak hit back at the criticism and said that he can attack from ball one.

Speaking about his approach he said, “In this game, you have to bat in different positions, and especially in those conditions, it isn't easy. At the same time, I've always said that I do whatever the team requires. If I have to grind it out for the team, I'll do that. If I have to hit from ball one, I can do that as well.”

India will be looking to bounce back after a tough UK tour and vice-captain Tilak Varma will be looking to put up some good performances in the upcoming series against Zimbabwe.