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Tilak Varma Under Fire Following England Failure; Fans Back Rajat Patidar
By CricShots - Jul 2, 2026 12:54 am
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Tilak Varma’s rough start to the England T20I series continued in Durham, where India’s vice-captain was dismissed for 13 as Saqib Mahmood and Liam Dawson produced another outstanding piece of fielding. The left-hander, who has come in for heavy criticism after a poor run of T20I scores and selection calls over more in-form options, once again failed to make a strong case for himself at No. 5. India eventually reached 189/7, thanks to big knocks from Shreyas Iyer and Abhishek Sharma, but Tilak’s wicket kept the spotlight firmly on his recent form.

Tilak Varma
Tilak Varma has been failing consistently

The dismissal came after Tilak tried to use a low full toss from Mahmood to scoop the ball fine, only to get a leading edge that looped up for Dawson to take a smart catch running back from short fine leg. Mahmood’s dismissal of Tilak was his second in as many T20I meetings, and the England pacer has now taken the Indian batter’s wicket twice in just three balls faced across the format.

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That one-vs-one matchup has quickly become a talking point in the series opener at Chester-le-Street. Tilak’s latest failure has only intensified scrutiny on his spot in India’s middle order. His recent T20I returns have been patchy, with only one fifty in his last ten innings, and fans have questioned why he continues to be backed ahead of other in-form batters.

The debate is not new, but a poor outing in England, after similar frustrations in the Ireland series, has made it louder. His struggles also come against the backdrop of a separate incident from India A’s Super Over in Sri Lanka, where the fading-light controversy involving Tilak became a major talking point in recent weeks.

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For India, though, the batting display overall was encouraging. Iyer’s 68 and Abhishek’s explosive 59 gave the innings momentum, while Shivam Dube’s unbeaten 42 in the closing overs pushed the total close to 190. With England chasing under rain threat later in the evening, India will feel they still have a defendable score on the board, even if Tilak’s latest dismissal again left questions hanging over his role in the XI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags England vs IndiaInd vs EngIndia cricket teamIndia vs. EnglandRajat PatidarTest BatterTilak Varmatroll