’s innings ended in one of the more unusual dismissals of the West Indies tour when he and stopped running after wrongly assuming a flick had reached the boundary during the third T20I at Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday.
The left-hander, who had looked set on 28 off 16 balls, was left stranded well short of his crease as West Indies capitalised on the momentary lapse.
The incident took place in the 17th over against Gudakesh Motie. The left-arm spinner delivered a low full-toss outside leg stump. Axar Patel flicked it powerfully toward deep backward square leg. At first the two batters completed a single and appeared ready to turn for a second. Almost immediately, however, both slowed and began walking back toward each other.
They exchanged a fist-bump in the middle of the pitch, clearly under the impression that the ball had crossed the rope for four. , fielding at deep square leg, had other ideas. He dived to his left and managed to keep the ball inside the boundary, then recovered quickly to throw it back toward the pitch.
collected the ball at the striker’s end and attempted a run-out. Axar just made it back into his crease in time. Hope then relayed the ball to Motie at the bowler’s end. By the time Motie broke the stumps, Tilak was still several metres short and walking casually back, unaware of the threat. The third umpire confirmed the dismissal after reviewing the replays.
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Tilak departed for 28, having hit four boundaries. India were 194 for 7 at that stage. Axar Patel later smiled wryly when the decision appeared on the big screen. India head coach Gautam Gambhir, watching from the dug-out, looked distinctly unimpressed by the lapse in concentration.
The lapse came at a key moment. India had flown to a strong start through Abhishek Sharma’s 69 off 30 balls and his 108-run stand with Ishan Kishan, but middle-order wickets checked the acceleration. Tilak’s run-out, followed by Axar’s own dismissal later, left the lower order to scramble to 223 all out.
West Indies failed to chase 224 and finished on 209/7. made 43 and Kamil Pooran scored 42, while Shamar Springer’s late 35 off 11 balls (including four sixes) kept the visitors interested until the end. led the bowling effort with 3 for 44, removing Shai Hope early and later striking in the death overs, with support from (2 for 39). India won by 14 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
The comical run-out did not prove decisive, yet it highlighted how a brief loss of awareness can cost a well-set batter even when the total is eventually defended. India now head into the remaining matches with a series advantage after successfully holding a total that looked under threat for long periods.
