IND vs SA 5th T20I: World No. 1 T20I bowler Varun Chakaravarthy dismissed 10 South African batters in four matches to win the Player Of The Series award, and Hardik Pandya impressed with his all-round show in a couple of matches to win two Player Of The Match (POTM) awards in the India-South Africa T20I series. But both of them failed to bag the Impact Player Of The Series medal in India’s dressing room post the conclusion of the home series in Ahmedabad on Friday (December 19). Instead, the medal was won by 23-year-old Tilak Varma.

Tilak, like Hardik and Varun, played all four T20Is for India and slammed a couple of half-centuries. In addition to that, he also remained unbeaten on 26 runs in the third T20I played at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday (December 14).

The cricketer from Hyderabad, who represents the Mumbai Indians in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, finished the series as the highest run scorer (187) and also went on to break Rohit Sharma’s record of scoring the most runs for India in T20Is against the 2024 T20 World Cup losing finalists during the fifth T20I played on Friday at Narendra Modi Stadium.

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The BCCI took to X and Instagram on Saturday to share a video of Tilak getting the Impact Player Of The Series medal from India’s training assistant Raghavindraa Dvgi. Upon hearing his name, Tilak bowed down to Raghavindra and touched his feet.

Watch the video here:

“This is the second time I am taking this (Impact player of the series medal) from Raghu. I feel very good to take this medal from such a special person. And nothing much to say. As Gautam (Gambhir) Sir said, we have been tested in this series, but the way we all came out of pressure was very good to see. Aise he apne ko aage New Zealand series mein bhi aur usse bhi bada (T20) World Cup mein apna test honge humare ko yahi attitude jaisa sath mein karke let’s win it," Tilak said.

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In the fifth T20I against South Africa, Tilak got a chance to bat in his preferred No. 3 position, and he made the most of the opportunity by scoring 73 runs from 42 balls. He hammered 10 fours and 1 six during his stay at the crease and added 105 runs for the fourth wicket with Hardik Pandya (63 runs from 25 balls).