South African legend AB de Villiers has highlighted a major selection puzzle for the Indian team ahead of their T20I series against Afghanistan, focusing heavily on where Tilak Varma fits into a packed batting lineup.
Tilak’s deployment lower down the order in the last few series reflects tactical management of his struggles against spin during middle overs, but this does create a long-term clash with frontline seam-bowling all-rounders.
While Tilak excels against pace in death overs, he operates primarily as a specialist left-handed batter. On the other hand, the likes of Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube function as dynamic power-hitters and medium-pace options.
Moreover, the Indian team management has heavily backed Tilak by naming him the vice-captain. Hence, dropping him won’t be a straightforward call.
“There will definitely be some selection issues with regard to the batters. Obviously, Shreyas, captain, Ishan Kishan, Samson, Sooryavanshi, and then there are all-rounders, Tilak Varma; I think that’s where the balance is quite tricky. Where will he bat?” de Villiers said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
Following the T20 World Cup 2026, Tilak Varma has amassed 255 runs from 10 innings at a strike rate of 159.36. He has managed to cross the half-century mark just thrice, which shows his inconsistent run with the bat.
De Villiers emphasized that while the reigning T20 world champions boast an incredibly strong squad, role clarification is vital against a dangerous side like Afghanistan.
“Really, really strong squad, but the balance will be tricky to figure out. It is T20 cricket, so they can play around with the squad a little bit. There are different roles, but the role clarification will still be incredibly important for India, as they are playing quite a dangerous team,” he stated.
India's squad for Afghanistan T20Is: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson [WK], Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur
