Tilak Verma May Get ‘Promoted’ Over Suryakumar Yadav in IPL 2025

India defeated South Africa by 11 runs in the 3rd T20I match held on November 13, 2024, at Super Sport Park, taking a 2-1 lead in the 4-match series. Contributing most to the Men In Blue’s heroic efforts was 22-year-old Tilak Verma, who scored an impressive 107 runs off 56 balls.

Not only did Verma become the second-youngest-ever centurion in T20I history, after Yashasvi Jaiswal, but he also earned the highest individual score by an Indian batter in a T20I match against South Africa, equalling Sanju Samson's previous record.

Interestingly, all of this happened because his skipper and Mumbai Indians teammate, Suryakumar Yadav, stepped down and allowed him to bat at No. 3 for this particular match, leading to this strong result.

Overjoyed by Verma’s performance, the Indian captain declared in post-match interviews that the youngster shall henceforth bat in that position.

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The arrangement happened when Tilak Verma reached out to Suryakumar Yadav in Gqeberha and sought to bat at three. In response, the latter agreed and told him to “enjoy himself.”

“I knew what he was capable of doing and I'm very happy for him. He is definitely going to bat at three going forward (smiles). He asked for it, he delivered,” the 34-year-old stated to ESPNcricinfo.

The performance boost may signal Verma coming up the order in the Mumbai Indians line-up during the 2025 IPL season, as the team has retained both of them. In the previous season, where Hardik Pandya captained MI, Suryakumar Yadav batted at No. 3 whereas Tilak Verma walked in at either No. 4 or 5.