Tilak Varma Indirectly Targets Ishan Kishan After Backlash vs Pakistan

Tilak Varma Ishan Kishan. Image Credits: XIndian batter Tilak Varma faced a heavy backlash on social media after his sluggish knock of 25 runs off 24 balls, with only two fours and a six. Tilak has indirectly targeted 'Player of the Match' Ishan Kishan for not giving him chance to bat during the power play. During a post-match conversation with former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel, Tilak Varma revealed his conversation with Ishan Kishan. Notably, the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir was also seen in an animated conversation conversation with Tilak Varma after the latter's 'dragged' knock. “I was also thinking that I’ll also hit” - Tilak Varma Tilak Varma admitted the fact that it was looking quite easy to bat in the powerplay as the ball was getting perfectly middled with the bat. “The ball was connecting quite well with the bat during the powerplay,” said Tilak Varma to Parthiv Patel. After the southpaw’s admission, Parthiv went on to take a subtle dig at the other batters, including Tilak Varma as well, while praising Ishan Kishan. “The way Ishan was playing the shots, it looked like he was playing on a different pitch compared to the other batters,” said Parthiv Patel to Tilak about Ishan’s knock in a sarcastic manner. “From the other end, I was also thinking that I’ll also hit but didn’t get enough strikes. Then I thought if Ishan [Kishan] is hitting, it’s also good for the team. I also told Ishan that, ‘you just keep hitting, if we lose a wicket, I’ll manage it with strike rotation,” replied Varma, stating a reason behind his 25-run knock. crictalk @crictalk7 Feb 16, 2026, 10:19 AM India’s dominance over Pakistan continues with massive winSpeaking of the action of the match, the Pakistan skipper, Salman Ali Agha, won the toss and asked India to bat first. The defending champions faced the first blow in the first over, losing Abhishek Sharma on a duck off four balls. Following Abhishek’s dismissal, Ishan Kishan’s 40-ball 77, Tilak's (25), Suryakumar Yadav's (32), and Shivam Dube’s (27) efforts helped India post a decent total of 175 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs. While chasing the target, Pakistan’s batting order crumbled miserably, as they lost four wickets for just 34 runs in 4.5 overs, followed by a middle-order collapse. Wicketkeeper-batter Usman Khan displayed a bit of resilience with his knock of 44 runs off 34 balls, with six fours and a six. Later in the innings, it was only Shaheen Afridi to cross the 20-run mark as an individual score, with 23 runs off 19 balls, hitting two fours and a six. Notably, seven Pakistani batters didn’t even touch the double-digit mark as an individual score. Eventually, Pakistan bundled out at the score of just 114 runs and India won the game comfortably by a big margin of 61 runs to continue their dominance against the arch-rivals in the T20 World Cup.