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India's Tilak Varma in the practice session ahead of the 1st ODI vs South Africa at Ranchi.
Shreyas Iyer will remain in the Indian squad for the remainder of their ongoing T20I series against New Zealand, with Tilak Varma now slated to join the team only before India’s warm-up match for the 2026 T20 World Cup. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that Varma is making steady progress with his rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
“However, he will require additional time to regain full match fitness and will not be available for the final two T20Is of the ongoing IDFC First Bank five-match T20I series,” said the BCCI in a statement.
“Tilak will link up with the squad in Mumbai once he has regained full match fitness on 3rd February, 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.”
Iyer is yet to get a match thus far in the series, with India already confirming victory in the series by taking a 3-0 lead in the series in emphatic fashion. India have instead opted to give Ishan Kishan a run in the batting order, with the wicketkeeper-batter making a comeback to international cricket after being left out for nearly two years. “We picked him first for the World Cup team, so it’s only fair that he gets the chance first. He also has not played for India in a long time. He deserves to play ahead,” India captain Suryakumar Yadav had said before the first T20I while explaining why they have picked Kishan ahead of Iyer.
Tilak had suffered an abdomen injury while playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Doctors had advised surgery for him at the time, which had pretty much ruled him out of the T20I series against New Zealand and also made it a race against time for him to be fit in time for the T20 World Cup, which starts on February 7.
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