“The team management has told him…” - Suryakumar Yadav opens up on Tilak Varma’s strike rate concern

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav has backed the No.3 batter Tilak Varma, stating that he has no concerns with regard to his batting in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

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Speaking ahead of the Super8 match against South Africa, SKY revealed that Tilak was given a pre-defined role by the team management, adding that he is confident about a better knock in the near future.  

While Tilak Varma has scored 106 runs from four innings in the ongoing showpiece event, his strike rate of 120.45 turned out to be a major talking point, having played the majority of powerplay overs.

”The team management has told him that he has to bat that way. If one wicket is down, then he can definitely go and have his own game in the powerplay,” Suryakumar Yadav said ahead of the game against South Africa.

“But as soon as two wickets are down, then he has to take a little bit of a backseat, build a partnership again, get to the tenth over and then we have enough firepower to continue and take on the bowling. But yeah, definitely I am sure he must not be happy with how he is batting right now. And he has practised a lot as well in the last two or three practice sessions. But I don’t have any concerns regarding him. He has been delivering for India at one drop really well and I am very confident that he will do it better,” he added.

”The wickets are a little different here. The four wickets we have played on so far were a little different and challenging. Off-spinners were not bowling earlier, but are now. So we have started preparation for that, and hopefully we will tackle it as we start our Super 8 journey,” he concluded. 

India will lock horns with South Africa in the first clash of the Super8 round at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, on Sunday, February 22.

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