Watch: Tilak Varma suffers brain fade at wrong moment, collapses into bizarre exhaustion

Tilak Varma suffered a bizarre lunge during India’s third T20I against the West Indies in Indore after momentary lapses in concentration left him stranded outside his crease. The left-hander scored 28 off 16 balls, including four boundaries, before his innings ended in an extraordinary series of events.

The incident occurred when Axar Patel bowled a low full toss from Gudakesh Motie towards deep backward square leg. Kamil Pooran sprinted, dived and managed to stop the ball from reaching the boundary and moved it back into play.

India vs West Indies, 3rd T20I: Update | Scorecard

Axar and Tilak, believing the ball to have gone for four, completed one and started exchanging blows with the gloves in mid-off. However, Pooran kept the ball in play and West Indies were quick to capitalize on their opportunities.

Presence of mind is completely absent. Tilak Varma will take a casual stroll while the ball is still alive and West Indies will make him pay with a sharp exhausting cricket mindset (@CricketMindset) October 11, 2026

Facing the game, Axar managed to bat in time at the non-striker’s end as Shai Hope attempted a run-out. Tilak, meanwhile, was oblivious to the danger and remained out of his fold. The ball was delivered to Motie who broke the stumps at the bowler’s end.

The third umpire reviewed the incident, confirmed that Pooran had stopped the boundary and ruled that Tilak had run out.

HOW INDIA CRASHED after a strong start

India got off to a flying start against the West Indies in the third T20I in Indore, reaching 87/1 in the powerplay as Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan unleashed a brutal onslaught. Abhishek smashed 69 off just 30 balls to reach his half-century in 18 deliveries while Ishan contributed a quick-fire 37 off 18 balls.

However, the momentum changed dramatically when Roston Chase dismissed Ishan by hitting him before trapping Shreyas Iyer lbw for just one. Abhishek soon followed, mistimed the haul of Shamar Springer on 69. India lost three wickets for nine runs in just 10 balls, allowing the West Indies to claw their way back into the contest.

Naman Dhir briefly raised the score with a six but fell to 10, while Nitish Kumar Reddy hit 21 off 14 balls before departing. Tilak Varma then fell into a lapse of concentration.

Axar Patel started with 20 before getting another run-out while Arshdeep Singh managed 11. The lower order struggled to regain control but Prince Yadav hit three boundaries in the final over to provide a late boost.

India were eventually bowled out for 223, losing their last nine wickets after a sensational start. What looked like a big total of 250 turned into a more modest target of 224 runs as the West Indies bowlers capitalized on the collapse of India’s middle order.

– The end