MI's Tilak Varma posts an unwanted IPL record: Details here
What's the story
Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Tilak Varma struggled to get going against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 65 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season on Wednesday. Varma entered the crease at Eden Gardens with MI placed at 23/3 in the 4th over. MI, who needed Varma to come good and build the innings, failed to derive the same. Here are further details.
Knock
Summary of Varma's innings
Varma started cautiously and never quite looked settled. He was pegged back to dot balls and singles. In the 11th over of MI's innings, Varma went for a big shot and Varun Chakravarthy ended up spilling the catch after Angkrish Raghuvanshi ran in and collided with him. Varma then dispatched Sunil Narine for a six before getting tied down. Kartik Tyagi dismissed Varma thereafter.
Information
25 balls taken to hit first boundary
Varma, who shared a 43-run stand alongside Hardik Pandya for the 5th wicket, took 25 balls balls to hit the first boundary. It's the most number of balls taken by a batter for the first boundary this season, bettering Rajasthan Royals' Ravindra Jadeja (24 balls).
Numbers
Only behind Hussey in terms of this unwanted record
Varma scored 20 off 32 balls versus KKR. He slammed one six. His strike rate read 62.50. As per Cricbuzz, the last time in IPL a batter faced 30+ balls and scored at a lower strike rate was Chennai Super Kings' Michael Hussey in May 2012. He scored 19 off 32 balls (SR 59.37) versus Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.