Mohammed Kaif, a former Indian batter, has encouraged Tilak Varma to playlike  Virat Kohli in T20Is as the southpaw struggles in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026. Tilak's approach has been more of an anchor, with 107 runs and a strike rate of 118. However, during the South Africa Super 8 match, Tilak attempted to improve his batting and failed.

Tilak attempted to take on Marco Jansen but nicked the ball straight to Quinton de Kock. Sunil Gavaskar reprimanded him for his approach in the match, and Kaif agreed, adding that team management should tell Tilak to stick to his duty as the team's anchor.

"Tilak Varma has his own way of playing. He can afford to play with a slow strike rate. However, he got out while playing a big shot. There was pressure building on him for the strike rate. As a player, you do keep track of what is being said. But it is the job of the management to ask the player to stick to his role. He should play Virat Kohli's role. He moved away from his gameplay by stepping out and going for a big shot. You'll never be able to play if you listen to what others are saying," said Kaif on his YouTube channel.

Kaif also stated that India has a plethora of attacking options, making it critical for Tilak to anchor the innings and drive it deep.

"To become a chase master, you will have to first bat till the 20th over. Tilak Varma got out early, trying to hit. What is your role? Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh play attacking cricket. There should be at least one player who takes the game deep," said Kaif.

India will face Zimbabwe in a must-win clash on February 26 in Chennai.