He picked up one wicket.
India arrived in Colombo with plans to counter Pakistan’s mystery spinner Usman Tariq, but it was part-timer Saim Ayub who briefly shifted the momentum during the high-stakes IND vs PAK T20 World Cup 2026 match on Sunday. Amid India’s eventual dominant victory, one of the highlights was Tilak Varma surprising two-over spell in a high-pressure game.
India eventually secured a convincing 61-run victory to qualify for the Super Eight stage, while Pakistan now need a win or no-result against Namibia to keep their tournament hopes alive.
Tilak, primarily known for his batting, was given the ball to bowl the 13th over after the main bowlers had already ripped apart Pakistan’s batting lineup during their 176-run chase. Reflecting on that moment after the match, Tilak Varma acknowledged that he himself was surprised when captain Suryakumar Yadav asked him to bowl.
“I was not ready to bowl when Surya bhai asked me to take the ball. My body was stiff as I was running around,” Tilak said in a post-match interview. “But I bowl before matches and have been practicing hard, so I just backed myself.”
Despite it coming unexpectedly, Tilak Varma delivered a solid spell of 2 overs for 11 runs and took a key wicket, dismissing the southpaw Mohammad Nawaz with his very first ball. A wicket of Nawaz allowed Tilak to join Arshdeep Singh on an exclusive list of Indian bowlers to pick up a wicket on the first ball of the T20 World Cup. Notably, Arshdeep achieved it against the same team in 2022, trapping Babar Azam in front of the wickets in Melbourne.
In the next over, Tilak couldn’t help himself to claim the second wicket, dropping a tough chance off Shaheen Shah Afridi. But his bowling, especially the wickets, added a tactical advantage against left-handed batters.
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If Tilak Varma can consistently bowl a couple of off-spin overs, it offers India valuable options and variety in their T20 lineup. With Tilak providing some control against left-handers, India can extend their batting without weakening the bowling attack. This opens the chance to boost the batting unit by adding a specialist pace hitter like Rinku Singh, who adds batting depth, something which India have been looking for a long time now.
Tilak Varma bowling off-spin allows India to play an extra wrist spinner on spin-friendly surfaces, for instance chinaman Kuldeep Yadav against Pakistan, with left-arm orthodox Axar Patel and right-arm leg-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy. The team may not always need a similar spin-bowling all-rounder like Washington Sundar. This balance lets the top order play more freely, knowing there is strength and explosiveness lower down without really compromising with the bowling.
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