IPL 2026 | 'Unfortunately ... ': Tilak Varma's candid Yuzvendra Chahal remark after Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings
Tilak Varma's brilliant unbeaten 75 guided Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings. Chasing 200, Varma's calculated aggression, including a crucial 22-run 18th over, sealed the win with two balls to spare. This defeat significantly dents PBKS's playoff aspirations.
NEW DELHI: The celebration, leap, exultation and gesture towards the Mumbai Indians dugout said it all for Tilak Varma as he powered Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in their IPL 2026 clash at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday. Tilak, who was named Player of the Match, looked delighted during the post-match presentation. It was his second consecutive half-century of the season, having already scored a century against Gujarat Titans earlier in the tournament.
After collecting his second Player of the Match award in IPL 2026, Tilak was asked whether he was enjoying evolving into a finisher’s role. "I always say that I love finishing games, but playing in the World Cup and playing quite a few international games for the country helps me (understand) how to finish games, and you get that experience and confidence. So with that, I think I keep improving my game," Tilak said after the match.
"(Did you make adjustments based on the pitch? ) To be honest, we weren’t expecting the wicket to be like this because the ball was (coming on) slightly slow and low, so it was not easy to hit strokes. We saw in the first half how Punjab struggled in the first 15 overs.
After that, Azmatullah (Omarzai) and Vishnu (Vinod), the way they played, got them to a good total. But we were thinking that we will take the game as deep as possible. And I was believing in myself that I could do it (finish the game).