The talented middle-order batsman of India, Tilak Varma, has unfortunately not been considered for the first three T20Is of the five-match home series against New Zealand. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially confirmed this news on Thursday, January 8.
To say the least, Tilak Varma was operated on an emergency basis for an abdominal problem in Rajkot a day before on January 7 when he was with his domestic team Hyderabad and getting ready for a Vijay Hazare Trophy match.
BCCI announcement: absence of Tilak Varma from three T20s against NZ; his fitness to reconsidered
BCCI confirmed on Thursday, January 8, that Tilak Varma had been excluded from the Indian squad for the first three matches of the upcoming five-match T20I series which is going to be held from January 21 to 31 later this month. In a media release, the BCCI also mentioned that the player had to go through an emergency surgical procedure for an abdominal problem in Rajkot in the middle of the ongoing 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy, but the 23-year-old has already been discharged from the hospital.
The player is currently slated to travel back to his home city Hyderabad on Friday, January 9. The media release further mentioned that Tilak Varma is “stable and recovering well.”
The BCCI has mentioned that the player will not receive the instruction to undergo physical training until he is completely symptom-free, when it comes to his return to competitive cricket just before the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
While Tilak Varma will not participate in the first three T20Is against New Zealand, the BCCI will decide on his inclusion in the last two matches of the series by monitoring his recovery.
The batsman had recently shared an optimistic update on his recovery on social media and hinted at his comeback, saying he was already on the road to recovery and would be back on the field “sooner than” expected.
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