Team India has played five T20I matches after their supreme T20 World Cup 2026 win in Ahmedabad. They still are winless, with one game ending in a washout. A series loss to Ireland was monumental. But now, they have been thoroughly outdone by England, first in Manchester and now at Trent Bridge too. Now, India enter in a must-win territory in Bristol. Will Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer bring back Sanju Samson to the fold? Or will an out-of-form Tilak Varma continue to get game time? Let’s talk more about it below.
Countdown on Tilak Varma?
Although you can say that no Indian batter has adapted to the English conditions well in this series, there’s one guy who has looked woefully out of form. Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and even Iyer have made runs. Vaibhav Sooryavnashi has shown some spark but we have to be patient with him. But India’s vice-captain Tilak Varma has been quite poor.
Unlike others, he has entered this run of games with enough game time as well. He led India A in a successful tri-nation series against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A. Although he made 275 runs in 5 outings there, his batting wasn’t of the highest class in Lanka. The Mumbai Indians (MI) star struck at just 74.93.
Now, in the ongoing UK tour, Tilak has played five games and has managed to score just 114 runs. Even if we leave aside the volume of runs, his strike rate has been quite horrible. In fact, his strike rate of 111.76 is less than the number of runs he has scored. With no space in the top four, he has batted at five in all these games. Perhaps that number isn’t made for him. Read more about Tilak Varma’s batting position problem here.
Tilak Varma in IND vs ENG T20I series
| Match | Score | Balls | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st T20I vs England | 13 (13) | 13 | 100.00 |
| 2nd T20I vs England | 24 (11) | 11 | 218.18 |
| 3rd T20I vs England | 3 (11) | 11 | 27.27 |
Tilak has been terrible against spin. In fact, he has struck at just 109.5 against all kinds of spin bowling in T20Is since 2025. This is just pathetic. He finds himself in a shell and now oppositions know how to contain him in the middle phase of the game. No doubt that the countdown is on for Tilak, irrespective of him being the vice-captain of the side.
Sanju Samson, meanwhile, is warming the bench as India have stuck with Abhishek Sharma and Sooryavanshi up top. It would be harsh if India benches the 15-year-old anomaly after just two failures. However, there’s pressure on Gambhir regarding Samson as well. After just three failures (two in Ireland), India dropped Samson. He isn’t part of the Zimbabwe series as well. So, the questions are plenty. But as of now for the 4th T20I, India are likely to give Tilak another chance before making any changes to the side.
Predicted India Playing XI vs England – 4th T20I
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
- Abhishek Sharma
- Ishan Kishan (WK)
- Shreyas Iyer (C)
- Tilak Varma
- Shivam Dube
- Axar Patel
- Harshit Rana
- Arshdeep Singh
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Prince Yadav
In the last game, India dropped Ravi Bishnoi for Prince Yadav and the move paid dividends as India’s bowling group looked more well-rounded. Varun Chakaravarthy is still easing in after his injury setback, while Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana are basically undroppable at the moment with no one other than Prasidh Krishna on the bench.
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