Is Tilak Verma becoming the new Virat Kohli? Kohli’s stats are being compared after 35 T20s

By Samira Vishwas On Dec 14, 2025

In this match, Indian batting appeared to be completely disintegrating, but left-handed Tilak Verma took charge alone. He played a quickfire inning of 62 runs in just 34 balls, which included two fours and five sixes. His performance shows that he can stand for the team even under pressure. This is not the first time that Tilak has saved India from great embarrassment. Earlier, in the final of Asia Cup 2025 also, he had won the match for the team by scoring unbeaten 69 runs (53 balls) in difficult conditions.

After Tilak’s continuous brilliant performance, the discussion among cricket fans and experts has intensified that Tilak Verma can become the next big identity of Indian cricket. Many people have also started considering him as the player who will play the role of Virat Kohli in the future. Many qualities like Kohli’s are visible in Tilak’s batting. He can handle the innings, shows aggressive play when needed and is also very capable in strike rotation but is it right to call Tilak the next Virat Kohli? To understand this better, let us compare his stats till 35 T20 Internationals with Virat Kohli’s stats.

Till now Tilak Verma has scored 1084 runs in 35 T20I innings. His average is 47.13 and strike rate is 145.50, which is very impressive in modern T20 cricket. He has 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries in his name. The special thing is that he has batted while chasing the target 15 times, out of which India has won 12 matches. That is, when India bats second and Tilak stays at the crease, the team’s chances of victory are around 80 percent.

For comparison, if we look at Virat Kohli’s initial figures, after 35 T20I matches he had scored 661 runs in 14 innings while chasing the target. During that period his average was an excellent 73.55 and he scored more than 50 7 times. However, in terms of strike rate, Tilak (139.62) has adapted well to the modern T20 match, whereas Kohli’s strike rate at that time was 131.67.

While it may be too early to say that Tilak Verma has lived up to Virat Kohli’s legacy, it is clear that he is moving in the right direction to become a reliable chaser for the Indian team. If he continues to play with this consistency and intelligence, Team India may get a new “Mr. Dependable” in the future.