India vice-captain Tilak Varma admitted that dropping down the order from No. 3 was not easy, but he is trusting his skill enhancement and mental preparation to ace the demands of his new role.
Tilak has been batting either at No. 5 or 6 in T20Is for a while now, and, for him, it came down to working on his game constantly to come up trumps.
“It’s not that easy to change the numbers from 3 to 5 and 6. It will be slightly challenging. But I have been working on that. How can I finish the games? I have said that I love finishing the games for the country,” said Tilak after the washed-out fifth and final T20I against the West Indies in Bengaluru on Saturday night.
“So, for me as an individual, if you see, it will be easier batting at 3. But unfortunately, now I should bat at 5 or 6 because we have got that combination at the top right now,” he added.
From nine matches, the left-hander averages 65.66 while batting at number six, at a strike rate of 195. In 26 combined innings at 5 and 6, he averages 46 at a strike rate of 158.
But Ishan Kishan’s arrival, skipper Shreyas Iyer’s presence at No. 4 and the management’s decision to stick with the Abhishek Sharma-Sanju Samson combination at the top meant a mandatory demotion for Tilak.
The Hyderabad batter is aware of the situation. “Kishan is batting at number 3 now, and he is batting really brilliantly there. So, for me now, I think there is no option but to bat at 5 and 6 and do the job for the team. So, I am mentally prepared for that role. And if you see the last few games, I have won from there. So, I am pretty confident to do well there as well,” he said.
The 23-year-old said he has been working tirelessly in the nets to improve his range of shots and skill level to meet the challenges of batting lower down the order.
“Yeah, we should do that; otherwise, it will be slightly tough. When you go in to bat as a finisher, if a slower one comes into your arc, you should go for 6. Otherwise, if you see in T20, most of the time, if you go into that role of 5 or 6, you will get a maximum of 5 to 6 overs to bat,” Tilak said.
“So, I have changed personally. I have been in this role in my childhood as well. I have got the shots going all over the ground. So, I am confident that if I bat at 3 or 5, I have the technique to adapt. So, if I practise for 1 or 2 days, I can do any role for the team. Now, if I come back to No. 3, I can adapt after a day or two of practice. I am confident of batting anywhere,” he noted.
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The Indian team has been going through a busy schedule over the last few months, playing across the United Kingdom, Japan and India. The players will now travel to New Zealand soon for an all-format tour.
Tilak conceded that it has been tough but asserted that mental toughness is necessary to play at the highest level.
“It will be slightly challenging. But as professional cricketers, we can’t give any excuse because when we play back-to-back series, there will be different time zones and all those things. We are used to it now. If you see, for any youngster coming into the team, it will be slightly challenging.
“But again, you are playing for the country and at the highest level. So, as I said, you should be mentally strong enough to prepare for any challenge, any conditions, so that you can become a bigger player,” he added.
The 23-year-old hoped to translate the positives from the series against the West Indies into good performances in New Zealand.
“There have been quite a few good things. Especially in the batting, every game we have scored over 200 plus. So, that’s a big positive, and that too, we haven’t got a proper all-rounder in the team. We have played both Nitish (Reddy) and (Shivam) Dube as well. But both have done decently well,” Tilak said.
“Then Naman (Dhir) bowled well under pressure. As an off-spinner, bowling to right-handers, and that too against a big-gun team like the West Indies. So, there are a few good points for us to take into the upcoming series. As a team, we have introspected a few things in the bowling as well. So, hopefully, we will do well in the New Zealand series,” he added..
Published on Oct 18, 2026