Does the Indian management know Tilak Varma‘s strengths and weaknesses? After his early struggles in the T20 World Cup 2026, the southpaw was moved from his usual number 4 or 5 position. He turned into a finisher at the backend of the tournament. Tilak only entered the middle with overs of fast bowlers left.
India’s mismanagement of Tilak Varma
One felt, at last, the management realised his struggles against spin. From 2025 onwards, Tilak has scored 300 runs off 266 balls against all kinds of spin for India. That’s a strike rate of 112.78. It isn’t much better in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the last two seasons, the 23-year-old has struck at 115.50 against spinners.
Middle-order batters are employed between overs 7 and 15. That’s when spin operates the most in T20Is. And Tilak has been India’s worst player of spin. Despite flipping it around in the T20 World Cup, the management walked back to the original plan for the India vs Ireland T20I series.
Gautam Gambhir has remained the constant, while Shreyas Iyer has replaced Suryakumar Yadav as captain. Against Ireland, Tilak returned scores of 19 off 21 and 55 off 46 while batting at number five. Why did he play there when Axar Patel and Shivam Dube are most suited to play spin?
Tilak Varma in T20s by batting position
| Position | Inns | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | Balls per Boundary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 | 2 | 57 | 57.00 | 167.64 | 4.86 |
| No. 3 | 58 | 2,023 | 44.95 | 145.64 | 5.34 |
| No. 4 | 41 | 1,371 | 41.54 | 143.56 | 5.55 |
| No. 5 | 40 | 1123 | 37.43 | 136.28 | 6.05 |
| No. 6 | 7 | 100 | 33.33 | 200.00 | 3.85 |
| No. 7 | 3 | 58 | 19.33 | 207.14 | 3.50 |
We don’t know. But the management didn’t learn from their mistakes. In the India vs England 1st T20I, Tilak was sent out to bat at number five again. England were playing Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid and Will Jacks. That’s 12 overs of spin at the maximum and about 8 at the minimum.
By the time Tilak entered the middle in the 9th over, England had already bowled 4 overs. Despite knowing Dube or Axar can take them down, Tilak joined Shreyas. And what did he do? He scored 9 off 8 against spin and finished with 13 off 13. During his 5.2-over stay in the middle, India scored 36 runs.
That isn’t horrible. But by no means is it good. You needed intent, knowing Shreyas would look to take the game deep. Dube came after him and smashed 42 off 21. He faced 12 balls of spin and scored 25 runs. Imagine if he’d faced 8 more balls than Tilak did? And if Tilak came later and faced fast bowlers?
But India didn’t do that and left runs out there in the middle. One can imagine you don’t want to send Dube out. But why not Axar? The all-rounder struggles against pacers, and when you push him to number 7 or 8, that’s all he faces. To force a batter into the middle, India is messing with the overall balance. If Tilak has to play, it should be against pace and at the backend of the innings. Or else, there’s no space for him.
Cricket
IND vs ENG: Shreyas Iyer & Gautam Gambhir's mismanagement of Tilak Varma continues
