'Don't thank me, thank the selectors': Suryakumar Yadav tells Tilak ...

India sealed a T20I series victory over South Africa with a comprehensive, record-breaking effort at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson were the heroes, setting a record highest partnership for any wicket in T20Is by bringing up their second century of the series each.

India's Tilak Varma, left, celebrates with captain Suryakumar Yadav after their win against South Africa.(AP)

The twin centurions, who became the first duo to score tons in the same innings in a T20I involving Full Member nations. The two batters, who scored 210 runs together as India reached 283/1 at the Wanderers, were interviewed by captain Suryakumar Yadav for a BCCI.tv video following the conclusion of the match on Friday.

Captain SKY asked his Mumbai Indians and national team teammate Tilak how it felt to bring up his maiden century at Centurion, before making it back-to-back tons in Johannesburg. Tilak responded by thanking his skipper and the team.

“Nothing to say right now, presently there’s a lot of emotion inside me,” said the 22-year-old. “Really, thanks for the opportunity, that’s what I can say to the team. It feels very nice to be here. Never thought I’ll score back-to-back hundreds, especially in a T20, especially against a challenging South Africa side.”

“Felt great, and all I can say is thank you,” said Tilak, gesturing at SKY.

However, the captain was quick to say that there was no need for Tilak to show his thanks to him, and jokingly mentioned that he should be thankful for the selectors instead.

“He’s being humble with his thank you. No need to say thank you to me, selector sir is sitting there,” said SKY, which saw the trio of him, Tilak, and Samson break into laughter at the comment.

Tilak is fairly experienced despite his youth, now having represented India in 20 T20Is as well as four ODIs during his career. His 120* at Wanderers took his batting average above 50 in the format, with a very healthy strike-rate of 161.25.

Whether Tilak has Suryakumar to thank or the management for the extended run of opportunities in the team, Indian fans will be confident that they have a long-time middle order rock in their lineup with the kind of performances he has dropped in a high-stakes series against South Africa.

India are done with T20Is for the year, as focus will shift completely to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy beginning in Perth on November 22.

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