Tilak Varma ruled out of first three T20Is against New Zealand

Tilak Varma is ruled out of the first three of the five-match T20I series against New Zealand starting January 21 after undergoing surgery for an abdominal issue.

As per a report by ESPNCricinfo, Tilak experienced pain following Hyderabad's 107-run win over Bengal in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite, Group B, game on January 6.

He underwent surgery based on medical advice and is now expected to resume training once he recovers fully. A timeline for his return can't be ascertained, and therefore, his "availability for the remaining two matches will be assessed based on his progress during the return-to-training and skill phases".

India play their last T20I against New Zealand at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on January 31. They'll get a six-day break before their T20 World Cup campaign opener against the USA on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Therefore, Tilak is now in a race against time to recover before India's T20 World Cup defence gets underway in Mumbai. Notably, teams are allowed to make changes to their squads for the T20 World Cup without ICC's approval till January 31.

Tilak Varma key to India's T20 World Cup defence

The southpaw has cemented his place in India's T20 squad on the back of some memorable match-winning performances in the last 14 months. He was the highest run-getter for the Men in Blue in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against South Africa at home. Tilak accumulated 187 runs in four games at a strike rate of 131.69 and an average of 62.33 with the help of two half-centuries.

He had shown remarkable composure, scoring an unbeaten 69, to help India take the honours in a high-voltage Asia Cup final against Pakistan in Dubai on September 28. The 23-year-old has already racked up 1183 runs in 40 T20Is at an average of 49.29 at a strike rate of 144.09, including two hundreds and six half-centuries.

India's squad for ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wk)