Tilak Varma has 1719 runs in 66 T20Is with 2 centuries and 10 fifties at a strike rate of 146.06.
Tilak’s brilliance at the death and the contribution of Shivam Dube helped India post a target that proved to be out of reach for Pakistan despite Hasan Nawaz’s brilliant 96 runs, as India won by 19 runs and won the gold medal.
Despite being selected for the finisher’s position in the 2026 T20 World Cup cycle, Rinku Singh didn't truly have the chances he was due. However, Varma has taken over for the team due to Hardik Pandya's ongoing injuries and the left-hander's exclusion from the T20I lineup.
It might be challenging for a player to move from his preferred batting positions to a contrasting role, as the 23-year-old Tilak said.
“It has been tough. You can easily shift from No. 3 to 4 or from opening to No. 3 because it’s not a big difference. But shifting from 3 or 4 to No. 6 or 7 has been really tough. Yet, if that’s the team’s requirement, there is no option. You have to earn that position, and I’ve worked a lot in practice and mentally to bat at different positions,” Tilak said on Star Sports.
Tilak had batted at no. 3 spot when he burst onto the Indian T20I scene and smashed back-to-back T20I centuries against South Africa in November 2024 – 107* in Centurion and then followed it up with an unbeaten 120 in Johannesburg.
It was Suryakumar Yadav who had sacrificed his spot at no. 3 for Tilak, and now that Tilak has become part of the leadership group, he has sacrificed his No. 3 spot for Ishan Kishan and moved down the batting order. He has done well, despite some hurdles.
Tilak has done enough while batting at number 5 or lower in 19 innings in which he scored 427 runs at a strike rate of 158.73, which includes four half-centuries.
The 23-year-old talked about how he has mentally prepared himself to take on the lower-middle-order job for the squad, a process that has started to produce benefits.
“I’ve worked on remaining still and smashing the ball against yorkers in the end overs. When you bat down the order, the ball comes slower compared to when it hits the seam and comes through when you bat in the top order. The total mechanics change, and I’ve accepted mentally that I have to be able to do a job in the lower middle order," he said.
Tilak Varma is currently part of the Indian squad for the ongoing five-match T20I series against West Indies.