Tilak to rejoin India squad in Mumbai before T20 WC
India’s dependable number 3 Tilak Varma is yet to regain full match fitness and has been left out of the squad for the final two T20Is against New Zealand at Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Tilak, who is recovering from an abdominal surgery, is at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He was expected to join the squad for the last two games but his replacement, Shreyas Iyer, has been asked to stay on with the squad.
“India batter Tilak Varma has resumed physical training and is making steady progress with his rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. However, he will require additional time to regain full match fitness and will not be available for the final two T20Is of the ongoing five-match T20I series,” secretary Devajit Saikia was quoted as saying in a media release.
“Tilak will link up with the squad in Mumbai once he has regained full match fitness on February 3, ahead of India’s warm-up match for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The Men’s Selection Committee has recommended that Shreyas Iyer will continue as Tilak Varma’s replacement for the remaining matches,” the release further stated.
Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravi Bishnoi.
