SMAT: Tilak Varma becomes first batter to hit three consecutive T20 tons with record hundred for Hyderabad

Tilak Varma has created history by becoming the first-ever batter to smash three consecutive T20 centuries. In the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, Tilak scored a hundred for Hyderabad against Meghalaya, hitting 151 off 67 balls – the highest individual score in tournament history, including 14 fours and ten sixes.

Captaining his team in the domestic T20 tournament, Tilak began on a high, completing his ton in 51 balls before scoring the remaining 51 in the next 16 balls. He continued from where he left during India’s T20I tour of South Africa, where he hit two tons in two straight matches. 

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While his maiden T20I hundred (107*) for India came at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on November 13, he scored next in the final game of the series at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, smashing an excellent 120*, with opener Sanju Samson also hitting his second hundred of the series in the match. Riding on twin tons, India hammered 283 for one, winning the game by 135 runs to take the series home 3-1.

Meanwhile, against Meghalaya, Tilak walked into the middle in the first over after opener Rahul Singh departed for a three-ball duck. Tilak began the onslaught from the word go, with his partner Tanmay Agarwal sharing honours with a similar display of destruction.

The pair added 122 runs for the second wicket before Agarwal departed on a well-made 55 off 23 balls inside the 10th over. That wicket, however, did not stop Tilak and incoming Rahul Buddhi from playing their natural game, as Hyderabad crossed the 200-run-mark soon after. Another wicket fell inside the 18th over, but Tilak’s heroics powered his team to a massive 248 for four in 20 overs.

Tilak’s rise to the top

Tilak is among the five players that IPL franchise Mumbai Indians retained ahead of the mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, starting Sunday (Nov 24). While the joint-most successful IPL team paid over INR 16 crores each to the top four retentions (Bumrah, Pandya, Suryakumar and Rohit), they bagged Tilak’s services for almost half the price at INR 8 crore. 

The emerging India superstar will be among the players to look out for in the next IPL season starting March 14, 2025. 

Meanwhile, the IPL and BCCI announced the IPL dates for the next three seasons, with March 15 to May 31 being the window for IPL 2026, while IPL 2027 is from March 14 to May 30.

(With inputs from agencies)