Hardik Pandya Erased As Soon As Tilak Varma Becomes Captain

Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya [Source: AFP and X.com]

Tilak Varma has been given a major leadership role as the BCCI announced him as the captain of the India A team. Notably, the young cricketer will lead the side on their tour of Sri Lanka for a seven-match ODI tri-nation series. The other teams in the series are Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A.

Notably, the highly-antictournament will take place from June 9 to June 21, 2026. All matches will be played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla.

Tilak Varma To Lead India A

It is important to note that the series follows a double round-robin format. Each team will play the other two teams two times during the league stage, making a total of six league matches for every side.

The top two teams on the points table will move forward to the final, which will be held on June 21. The points system is simple, with 2 points given for a win, 1 point for a no-result match, and 0 points for a loss.

Tilak Varma Shares His Thoughts On Captaincy, Credits Rohit Sharma

Ahead of the much-awaited series, Tilak Varma shared his thoughts on leadership and discussions he has had with senior players. Notably, he spoke about his conversations with Rohit Sharma and highlighted key learning points from those talks.

Tilak praised Rohit Sharma and focused mainly on captaincy lessons and decision-making to small details during pressure situations. In a talk with RevSports ahead of the tournament, Tilak said,

"Whenever I speak with Rohit bhai, our conversations aren't usually about batting. We mostly discuss captaincy — how to make decisions under pressure and pay attention to even the smallest details. I'll definitely use those experiences in the India matches ahead."

Watch the video here:

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Tilak Varma reveals Gautam Gambhir's long-term blueprint for him as a Leader More in Revsportz YT - Reports @rohitjuglan from Dambulla

Jun 8, 2026, 1:49 PM

It is important to note that Tilak Varma has played under Hardik Pandya after Pandya joined Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2024 season as captain. However, in his recent comments on leadership, he did not mention Hardik Pandya and instead focused on learning from Rohit Sharma.

Also Read: RCB-0, SRH-3, CSK? IPL Team-Wise Players In India T20I Squad For Ireland, England

Tilak Named As India's T20I Vice-captain

In addition, Tilak Varma has been appointed as the deputy to newly appointed T20 captain Shreyas Iyer for the upcoming Ireland and England T20I series.

After the Sri Lanka tri-series, the 23-year-old will travel to Ireland for a two-match series scheduled on June 26 and June 28.

Tilak Varma’s Record As Captain

Tilak Varma has already taken leadership roles in earlier tournaments. Notably, the Hyderabad batter has led India A in the Emerging Asia Cup in Oman in late 2024 and also captained the side in a home three-match unofficial ODI series against South Africa A.

Under his leadership, the team won the series 2-1, showing strong control and planning on the field.