It has been a blessing in disguise for Tilak Varma that his faults haven’t come to the limelight in the time when India have other major problems. Shreyas Iyer and his side are dealing with the fact that they just lost to Ireland, getting hammered 2-0. Meanwhile, the massive question of when Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will play or replace an under-fire Sanju Samson in the starting lineup.
Amidst all these noises, the uncomfortable question regarding Tilak isn’t coming into focus. But we have to address it. We bashed Gautam Gambhir for including Washington Sundar in the lineup without having a defined role for him. Similarly, Tilak, who is the vice-captain of the side, isn’t fitting in the current plan framed for him. No doubt, his ceiling is extremely high. He is as adaptable as anyone in the current Indian batting lineup, with a gifted ability to absorb any kind of pressure gleefully. Just look at his knocks in the Asia Cup final and one in Chennai against England.
What is Tilak Varma’s role?
But him at number five just isn’t working. Unfortunately, Tilak has no one but himself to blame. The problem is about his role. And right now, neither Tilak nor India seems to know what that role actually is.
Over the last two years, India have used him at No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6 and even No.7. All this when he hasn’t even completed 50 innings. It almost feels as though the team management believes he can solve every batting problem simply because he is versatile. In reality, that versatility is starting to work against him.
The latest example came against Ireland. Scores of 19 off 21 balls and 55 off 46 balls do not look disastrous on paper. But context matters. India desperately needed momentum through the middle overs and Tilak never looked capable of providing it. That has become a recurring theme. Even again in the opening T20I against England, he made a 13-ball 13.
Spin-game killing Tilak Varma’s momentum
Tilak’s biggest problem is something opposition teams have already worked out. Spin. Since the start of 2025, he’s really struggled whenever spinners get a chance to settle into a spell. And the numbers back it up. They make for uncomfortable reading.
| Bowling Type | Strike Rate |
|---|---|
| Left-arm orthodox | 147.3 |
| Off-spin | 127.6 |
| Leg-spin | 103.9 |
A strike rate of 103.9 against leg-spin just doesn’t cut it in modern T20 cricket, especially for a middle-order batter. You look at Rajat Patidar, who is a demolisher of spin. India have him nowhere near the current Indian T20I circuit, despite the RCB captain scoring 182 runs off 81 balls at a jaw-dropping strike rate of 224.69 and an astronomical average of 91.00 against spin this year. What’s more worrying is how Tilak’s getting out. Bowlers have figured him out. Nine of his 13 dismissals to spin since last year have come from balls outside off stump. The line barely changes. The field barely changes. And too often, the outcome doesn’t either.
It gets worse because of where India are using him. At No.5, Tilak comes in right when spinners take over. Overs 7 to 15 are basically owned by slow bowlers. So India are sending their weakest player against spin into the exact phase where spin decides the game. That’s not really a Tilak issue. That’s a team management issue as well.
If No.3 belongs to Ishan Kishan, India must reinvent Tilak
The irony is that Tilak’s career numbers show exactly where he should be batting.
| Position | Runs | Average | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| No.3 | 649 | 46.35 | 151.99 |
| No.4 | 490 | 54.44 | 128.60 |
| No.5 | 224 | 28.00 | 130.99 |
| No.6 | 64 | 64.00 | 206.45 |
| No.7 | 50 | 25.00 | 200.00 |
Even a not-so-hardcore cricket fan can also look at the numbers and ask why Tilak is batting at number five. At No. 3, Tilak looks like a future star. At No.6 and No.7, he turns into an impact batter who can take pace attacks apart. That is what we saw at the T20 World Cup as well, where when he was moved to lower down the order, the impact was huge.
At number six, he dished out a top innings of 44* off just 16 balls against Zimbabwe; meanwhile, he made sure to hit a 7-ball 21 in the semi-final against England while batting at number seven. Yes, the sample size isn’t big. But the numbers don’t lie. We know Tilak’s a tormentor of pace bowling and it gives us the reasoning as well.
But at No.5, his numbers just drop off. The problem for him is India’s current No. 3. That’s Ishan Kishan, and he’s not going anywhere. He’s the world No.1 T20I batter right now and probably India’s most dangerous T20 player. That leaves India with two options. Either drop Tilak down the order and let him go after pace at the death or keep him at No. 5 and keep watching the middle overs slow down every time good spin comes on.
And the pressure isn’t going to ease. The queue behind him is getting long. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is breaking records every other week. Patidar is still unarguably the country’s best player of spin. Even Samson could move to No.3 if India want to open with Sooryavanshi alongside Abhishek Sharma. All of a sudden, the vice-captain has major chances of getting dropped from the team altogether.
