Tilak Varma ruled out of New Zealand T20Is, will join World Cup squad on February 3

Tilak Varma ruled out of New Zealand T20Is, no official update on Washington Sundar

Tilak Varma is currently recovering from testicular surgery. According to a statement from the BCCI, he has resumed physical training and is making steady progress with his rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. However, he still requires additional time to regain full match fitness.

His recovery timeline for the World Cup and upcoming matches is as follows

• New Zealand T20I Series: Varma will miss the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. While he was initially expected to miss only the first three matches, he has now been ruled out for the entire bilateral series to allow more time for recovery.

• Joining the Squad: He is expected to join the India T20 World Cup squad in Mumbai on February 3.

• Return to Action: It is anticipated that he will return to competitive play during India's T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on February 4.

Because of this injury and recovery period, Varma will enter the T20 World Cup having not played any T20 cricket in the current year. In his absence from the national side, Shreyas Iyer has remained with the team for the New Zealand series, and Ishan Kishan has taken the opportunity to fill the opening in the batting line-up.

What's up with Washington Sundar?

According to the sources, there has been 'no official update' on Washington Sundar's status since he was initially side-lined.

The key details regarding his injury

• Injury Event: Sundar suffered a rib injury on January 11 during the first ODI against New Zealand. Following the injury, he was withdrawn from the remainder of that series.

• World Cup Relevance: Despite the lack of recent updates, he is considered one of the four frontline spin-bowling options India has selected for the T20 World Cup.

The timing of his recovery is critical because teams are permitted to make changes to their World Cup squads until January 30. After that deadline, any personnel changes will require approval from the ICC event technical committee.

India's updated squad for the last two T20Is against NZ

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

Backing the men in blue for the T20 World Cup 2026? Which player are you most excited to watch and did you get your Indian jerseys for the mega event? Get your jersey now.