Tilak Varma’s place in India’s playing XI will be one of the biggest talking points when the team takes on England in the fifth and final T20I. The Indian vice-captain has struggled to find consistency with the bat during the ongoing UK tour. After scoring 55 against Ireland in a losing cause, Tilak has managed only 70 runs across his last five outings, raising concerns about his current form.
England have successfully exposed a weakness in Tilak’s batting by repeatedly attacking him with spin from both ends. The bowlers have focused on limiting his scoring opportunities and preventing him from playing his natural attacking game. His struggle to hit boundaries against spin has become a major concern for the Indian team management.
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Questions are also being raised over Tilak being named vice-captain despite not having a guaranteed place in the playing XI.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel compared Tilak’s situation with Shubman Gill’s captaincy experience in 2025. Gill had also faced difficulties during his time as vice-captain before eventually losing his spot in the team. Patel hopes the same situation does not happen with Tilak.
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“I’m just hoping we don’t see another vice-captain get dropped. The kind of batting line-up we have can’t work in the long term. If six of your top seven batters are left-handers, that batting order won’t work. Changes have to be made somewhere. Now, who comes into the side and which right-hander gets backed, I don’t know. That’s why Tilak Varma needs to score runs,” said Parthiv Patel on JioStar’s ‘Googlies’.
India's fielding struggles
Apart from Tilak Varma’s batting struggles, Parthiv also raised concerns about India’s fielding standards. He believes dropped catches have become a major issue across Indian cricket, including the men’s team, women’s team and junior sides.
Highlighting India’s recent matches against Ireland, the former cricketer said missed chances played a big role and the team needs to improve its fielding ahead of important assignments.
“The result was a bit surprising and shocking. You can’t expect to beat Ireland after playing poor cricket. Over the last two to two-and-a-half years, the most alarming aspect of Indian cricket has been fielding, across the men’s team, the women’s team and even junior cricket. Even in the Ireland series, had those two or three catches been taken in the first game, they wouldn’t have scored over 180. The same thing happened in the second game. This is definitely an area India needs to address because they’re dropping catches at crucial moments,” he said.
With England already taking an unassailable lead in the T20I series, the final match gives India an opportunity to test their combinations and fix some of their problems before the next challenge.