Explained: Who Was Actually Run Out: Tilak Varma or Shivam Dube?

As India faces South Africa in the series decider in Ahmedabad, South Africa won the toss and invited India to bat first. Due to injury, Shubman Gill missed the fifth game of the series. However, Sanju Samson was given a chance to show his batting as he sat on the bench in three games. Sanju Samson did not fail to show his batting skills. India got off to a strong start thanks to Samson's 37 runs and Abhishek Sharma's explosive 34-run effort. Before Abhishek was dismissed, Samson and Abhishek shared 63 runs for the first wicket. Samson was aggressive in his approach and took calculated chances. Samson started to put early pressure on the Proteas bowling attack.

As Sanju Samson was setting the tone, he lost his wicket on 37 runs, but he joined the elite group of Indian batters who have scored 1000 or more runs in T20I cricket. Samson had to wait for almost ten years to achieve this milestone after making his debut in T20I against Zimbabwe in 2015. Meanwhile, captain Suryakumar Yadav again failed to convert the start into a big innings as he lost the wicket on the score of five runs.

Who Was Actually Run Out?

During the IND vs SA 5th T20I game, a blizzard moment happened when Ottneil Baartman bowled Shivam Dube a wide down the leg side. Tilak Varma was interested in getting a quick run. As the ball passed, Tilak Varma had already run to the striker's end in an attempt to take a bye. However, Dube was seen observing the ball. Before Quinton de Kock, a sharp throw to Baartman at the bowler's end, Tilak desperately signalled Dube to return to his crease.

Meanwhile, there was a lot of confusion among the players about whose bat was on the ground. However, the decision went to the third umpire, and when it came on the big screen, Dube grounded his bat first, leaving Tilak Varma in shock. However, before Tilak Varma run out, Varma and Hardik Pandya shared a partnership of 105 runs off 44 balls. Hardik Pandya brings out the carnage in Ahmedabad. Hardik Pandya single-handedly put India in a dominant position and made sure that the series ended on India's side. The two of them were instrumental in maintaining the squad in a very comfortable position and helped drive India to a huge score.

Tilak Varma Breaks Rohit Sharma Record

This T20 series against South Africa has seen Tilak Verma in explosive form. Despite losing the second T20 match, he scored a fifty. He scored 73 runs in this match, including one six and ten fours. With outstanding batting performances from Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma, the Indian batting innings ended with a huge score of 231. Both shared a partnership of 105 runs as India put on a fighting total. Tilak is showing all his skills to become the best batsman in India.

Meanwhile, Tilak Varma's innings also helped him to surpass Rohit Sharma's record of 429 runs during his 73-run performance in India's last international match of 2025, making him the country's best run scorer in T20Is against South Africa. From September 2007 to June 2024, Rohit played 18 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against South Africa, scoring a total of 429 runs, while Tilak has already scored 496 runs in 10 T20Is against the African team.