'Surprised to see an Indian batter struggling so much against spin' - Mohammad Kaif slams Tilak Varma ahead of ENG vs IND 2026 4th T20I

Mohammad Kaif urged Tilak Varma to improve his batting against spinners, saying that the southpaw struggles to rotate strike, let alone hit boundaries.

Tilak, who was appointed India's vice-captain ahead of the tour of the United Kingdom, has only scored 37 runs in three innings so far in the ongoing five-T20I series against England.

Kaif revealed that the Mumbai Indians cricketer's struggles against spin, despite being an Indian batter, surprise him.

“He really needs to improve his ability against spin. I'm honestly surprised that an Indian batter struggles so much against spin. Forget hitting boundaries, he isn't even able to rotate the strike. Many players who can't attack spin at least take singles and doubles to keep the scoreboard moving. Tilak isn't even doing that," Kaif said during a discussion on his YouTube channel.

In the third T20II, Tilak scored just three runs off 11 balls before getting stumped off Will Jacks' off-spin. Kaif said that the inability to rotate strike is piling the pressure on the southpaw and eventually leading to his downfall.

“As a result, dot balls keep piling up. Then he feels the pressure to play a big shot, and in the process, he gets out, just like he did when he was stumped. That's why I'm really concerned about his quality against spin. The ball isn't even turning much. Just vary the pace slightly and bowl in the right areas, and he struggles to score.”

Kaif noted that Tilak looks to cover up for the dot balls he faces against spinners by targeting the fast bowlers at the back end of the innings. However, the cricketer-turned-expert said that this is a risky approach because if he gets out in some matches without accelerating against the pacers, the dot balls he faces when the spinners are bowling could come back to haunt India.

“He has to improve his game against spin. Otherwise, he'll keep getting trapped in T20 cricket. Even yesterday, he was on 3 runs off 11 balls. That's why you often see him on 19 off 19. It's because he plays too many dot balls against spin and can't find boundaries in the middle overs. Then, when the death overs arrive, he starts hitting boundaries and covers it up. But being on 20 runs off 20 balls in the middle overs is very risky," Kaif said.

“It's risky for his place in the team as well. If you get out after scoring 20 off 20, you've only created pressure on yourself because you haven't been able to score quickly enough. He has to learn how to hit boundaries against spin in the middle overs. That's the biggest challenge in front of Tilak,” he added.

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India are staring at back-to-back T20I series defeats after losing two out of the first three matches against England. The series is poised at 2-0 in England's favour, with two more games to play. The fourth T20I will be played at the County Ground in Bristol on Thursday, July 9.