BCCI considers Tilak Varma as backup for Shreyas Iyer ahead of ICC World Cup 2027

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has identified Tilak Varma as a potential backup for Shreyas Iyer ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027, which will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

India's management has begun planning for the tournament more than a year out, with an emphasis on assembling a squad that offers depth across positions and stability in the batting order. Selectors are reportedly weighing younger options to cover for injuries and workload management while seeking longer-term batting continuity. Shreyas Iyer, the right-handed batter who occupies the No. 4 slot and serves as India’s vice-captain, remains a central figure in those plans due to his composed approach in the middle order.

A Times of India report states that Tilak Varma is being viewed by the Indian management as a possible deputy for Iyer at the 2027 World Cup. The report adds that Tilak could be brought into the side in cases of very poor form from Iyer or if Iyer were to face an injury concern.

“Coach Gautam Gambhir & captain Shubman Gill feel there isn’t any backup ready for middle order. With Hardik Pandya & Nitish Kumar Reddy being prone to injuries, they want someone in the top order who can at least chip in with four overs in an ODI,” said a BCCI source.

Tilak has become an established member of India’s T20I setup, and although his role shifted after Ishan Kishan’s arrival he is regarded as one of the team's more progressive batters and has attracted attention for ODI duties as well.

In limited-overs numbers cited by the report, Iyer has played seven ODIs on South African soil, scoring 154 runs at an average of 25.66 with one half-century. Tilak has appeared in five ODIs for India, three of them in South Africa, where he accumulated 63 runs in three innings and recorded his maiden ODI half-century; he has also registered two centuries in South Africa in the shortest format while representing India. Tilak made his ODI debut on September 15, 2023 against Bangladesh during the Asia Cup in Colombo, and Iyer played in the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, scoring 530 runs in 11 matches.

Selectors’ consideration of Tilak as cover makes clear that any change to India’s primary middle-order configuration ahead of the 2027 tournament would be triggered by Iyer’s form or fitness, with a call-up dependent on those conditions.