Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth criticized Tilak Varma after India suffered a humiliating loss to Ireland by one run in the second T20I in Belfast on June 28.India were tied at 155 in two games but were reduced to 19/3 when Tilak Varma came to bat in the third innings. The 23-year-old tried to stabilize the innings but was slow to score 55 off just 46 balls. India’s other batsmen also struggled, falling just one run behind and losing the series 0-2.Criticizing Tilak and other batsmen on his YouTube channel, Srikanth said: “Tilak Varma was trying to stay the course and be the hero. He wanted to win the game at the end and lift the jersey to celebrate. These goals have to be chased with energy to spare rather than hanging on till the end.”“You can’t play like India in the mid-term, especially Tilak Varma, Dube and Axar, their strike rate is very poor. You have to settle down a bit and then start attacking in the mid-term, otherwise it’s over if you fail in the mid-term. India lost the game in the mid-term. Tilak Varma was just playing for himself, sneaking in in twos, threes. Same with Axar Patel.”Tilak also struggled in the first T20I, scoring just 21 runs off 19 balls as India lost by 34 runs.Srikkanth also criticized India’s approach in the middle of the second T20I. The visitors went seven overs without hitting a single boundary, with Tilak Varma, Shivam Dubey and Axar Patel unable to score freely.“There was a stage in the middle with 45 no boundaries. How can such a T20 match be won? It’s such a shame that an Irish bowling genius has run out the Indian batting line-up. Even in the IPL, look how many runs have been scored by these top Indian batsmen in Lucknow? Because in Lucknow, wickets helped the swing and the seam. In Sri.Prior to this series, India had won all eight of their previous T20 matches against Ireland. The 0-2 defeat marked India’s first loss to Ireland in the series.
