Tilak Varma is set to succeed Virat Kohli at the crucial number three position for India in the ICC T20 World Cup. Despite the big shoes to fill, Varma's phenomenal stats and crisis-management skills make him a worthy heir to the position.
The beauty of Indian cricket lies in the seamless transition of batting talent from one generation to the next. From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and now Shubman Gill, fans have witnessed prodigious talent dominate the international stage. Continuing this legacy, Tilak Varma is set to occupy the coveted number three spot for India in the ICC T20 World Cup, starting against the USA at Mumbai on Saturday.
Tilak will have massive shoes to fill of Virat, who has been India's biggest match-winner in T20 World Cup history and the tournament's top run-getter. The superstar batter developed an enviable catalogue of classic T20I knocks at this tournament and in T20Is in general while occupying the number three spot for a decade. But this time around, the man with the number 18 jersey and MRF bat would not be taking a walk to the crease amid massive cheers from the crowd, a sight which will be missed. But despite such a void left by Virat, the excitement, gear shifting, and skill set offered by Tilak make him a worthy heir apparent to Virat in T20Is at number three, and his arrival to the crease should be cheered as much as Virat's.
A phenomenal number three batter
Tilak has scored 1,183 runs in 40 matches and 37 innings at an average of 49.29 and a strike rate of 144.09, with two centuries and six fifties and a best score of 120*. Since the last T20 WC, he has got opportunities to bat at number three and four, and it is the numbers at Virat's spot which stand out. In seven innings since the last T20 WC at number three, Tilak has made 422 runs at a mind-boggling average of 140.66 and a strike rate of 168.8, with two centuries and fifties each. Nobody in the world has batted with this level of authority at number three, with only Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis (335 runs in 13 innings at an average of 27.91 and a strike rate of 170.05 with a century and two fifties) outdoing him in the strike rate slightly.
Ahead of the curve
Just like Virat, Tilak is way ahead of his contemporaries at number three. Coming to Virat, during the cycle from the end of the 2012 T20 WC to the start of the 2014 T20 WC, the collective strike rate at three among participating teams was 123.63, and Virat ended the 2014 tournament with 319 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 129.14. Then, from the 2014 T20 WC end to the 2016 T20 WC start, the global trends among nations participating in the 2016 edition at number three pointed out the strike rate to be 126.94. But Virat ended the tournament with 273 runs at a strike rate of 146.77, almost 20 runs ahead. On top of that, his average was an insane 136.50, and he struck three memorable fifties against Pakistan, Australia and the West Indies. Before the T20 World Cup 2022, Virat's T20I tempo had started to come into question, but again, after the 2021 edition till before the 2022 edition, the global strike rate at number three among participating nations in the 2022 tournament was 127.11. Virat ended the tournament as the leading run-getter with 296 runs at an average of 98.66 and a much-higher strike rate of 136.40. The same is happening with Tilak. The combined number three SR among 2026 T20 WC participants after the last T20 WC is 136.07 and Tilak strikes at over 168, a whopping 32 runs ahead! Surely, he is making Virat proud with his scoring rate.
A crisis-man with game for big situations
Since the last T20 WC, Tilak has shown on plenty of occasions that he has multiple gears in his batting, and he can go from a spectator watching the other guy tonk fours and sixes to taking the centre stage himself in a jiffy. Be it his Asia Cup final knock of 69* against Pakistan in tense run-chase of 147 runs which earned him the 'Player of the Match' award, his 72* while chasing 166 against England at Chennai with India 78/5 at one point in a winning cause or his fighting 62 in 35 balls, with two fours and five sixes while chasing 214 against South Africa during 2025-end, Tilak knows a thing or two about firefighting and more often than not, be it in international or IPL colours, he extinguishes it. He has secured four 'Player of the Match' honours and a POTS award on his way to the T20 WC. He top-scored the SA tour back in 2024 with 280 runs in four innings at a SR of almost 199, with two centuries, winning the 'Player of the Series' award. When Proteas came to India towards the end of 2025, he scored 187 runs in four matches, with two fifties, to top the charts again, but with a subdued SR of 131.69, showcasing his versatility. With 213 runs in six innings at an average of 71 and an SR of over 131 and a fifty, he was also the second fiddle to Abhishek Sharma in the Asia Cup title win last year. With such credentials, Tilak Varma is poised to step into a role long defined by Virat Kohli, carrying forward India's legacy at number three in the T20 World Cup.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)