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India batter Tilak Varma will miss the final two T20Is against New Zealand as he continues his recovery from surgery. He is still working his way back to full fitness after undergoing an abdominal procedure.
Tilak is currently training at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and was expected to rejoin the team for the last two matches in Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram. However, the team management has decided not to rush him back.
Devajit Saikia on Tilak Varma's T20 World Cup participation
With Tilak unavailable, Shreyas Iyer has been asked to remain with the squad for the remainder of the series. After BCCI's move, there were speculations about Tilak's participation in the T20 World Cup 2026, which will start from February 7. However, the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed that the star batter has started physical training and he will join India squad in Mumbai on February 3 ahead of India's warm-up clash.
"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.
India's T20 World Cup 2026 group stage schedule
Defending champions India will start their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against the United States on February 7. Tournament's high-voltage clash between India and Pakistan will take place on February 15 in Colombo.
| First Match | February 7 | India vs United States | Mumbai |
| Second Match | February 12 | India vs Namibia | Delhi |
| Third Match | February 15 | India vs Pakistan | Colombo |
| Fourth Match | February 18 | India vs Netherlands | Ahmedabad |
India's T20 World Cup 2026 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.
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