Tilak Varma had a golden day with the ball in the T20 World Cup 2026 high-voltage clash between India and Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, February 15. The part-time off-spinner struck off his first delivery, dismissing Shadab Khan, as the Men in Green lost their last recognized batter before being bundled out for 114 in 18 overs while chasing 176. It was Varma’s first wicket of his T20 World Cup career and his fourth scalp in the format.

The 23-year-old finished with figures of 1/11 in his two overs. He was equally with the bat, scoring 25 runs off 24 balls as India won the match by 61 runs.

Here are four other specialist batters who have taken a wicket in the T20 World Cups:

Joe Root

England’s Joe Root starred with the ball against the West Indies in the T20 World Cup 2016 final. The off-spinner dismissed both openers, Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles, for single digits as WI lost both their openers for just five runs while chasing 156. It was his only over in the T20 tournament. Unfortunately, England lost the match by four wickets. Overall, Root took six wickets in nine innings at an economy rate of 9.93. Since then, Root has taken 73 and 30 wickets in Tests and ODIs, respectively.

On the batting front. Root has amassed 22413 runs in 430 matches, including 61 tons and 116 half-centuries.

Michael Clarke

Australia’s Michael Clarke took wickets in the first three editions of the T20 World Cups. The left-arm spinner dismissed Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal for his first wicket in the ICC tournament in 2007. He took two wickets in the inaugural edition and then followed it up with one wicket apiece in the 2009 and 2010 T20 World Cups. Overall, Clarke took six wickets in 15 innings at an economy rate of 8.65. Besides T20Is, he also scalped 31 and 57 wickets in Tests and ODIs.

With the bat, Michael Clarke scored 17112 runs in 394 matches across formats, comprising 36 tons and 86 fifties.

Mohammad Ashraful

Like Michael Clarke, Mohammad Ashraful took wickets in multiple T20 World Cups. The part-time spinner dismissed Morlon Samuels for his first wicket in the inaugural edition of the ICC event. He then dismissed Clarke in the 2010 T20 World Cup. Overall, he scalped eight wickets in as many innings at an economy rate of 9.13. Apart from T20Is, he also took 21 and 18 wickets in Tests and ODIs.

Ashraful was amongst the leading run-getters for Bangladesh during his cricket career, scoring 6,655 runs in 259 matches, including nine hundreds and 30 half-centuries.

Steve Smith

When Steve Smith first burst onto the scene, he was a leg-spinner before turning into a specialist batter in international cricket. He picked up 11 wickets in seven matches at an economy rate of 7.09 during the 2009 T20 World Cup. Overall, he took 17 wickets in as many T20I innings at an economy rate of 7.77. Other than T20Is, Smith took 19 and 28 wickets in Tests and ODIs.

On the batting front, he has amassed 17657 runs in 360 games across formats, including 49 centuries and 84 fifties.