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New Delhi: Star batter Tilak Varma has been ruled out of the remaining two T20Is of the ongoing five-match series against New Zealand as he continues to recover from an abdominal injury. Tilak missed the first three T20Is against the Kiwis after undergoing surgery for testicular torsion earlier this month.

He complained about testicular pain while playing for Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Rajkot earlier this month. The left-hander was replaced by Shreyas Iyer, who is currently with India’s T20I squad in the ongoing series against New Zealand. Tilak is undergoing his rehab at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Tilak was expected to join the Indian squad for the last two T20Is against New Zealand, however, the BCCI on Monday announced that the batter will miss the final two matches as he requires additional time to regain match fitness.

“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,” BCCI said in a press release.

Tilak is expected to link up with the rest of the Indian squad in Mumbai ahead of their warm-up match before the start of the T20 World Cup 2026 next month. As per BCCI, the left-hander will join the squad on February 03. In his absence, Shreyas will remain with the Indian team as his replacement during the New Zealand T20I series.

India is likely to take on South Africa in a warm-up match in Navi Mumbai on February 04 before beginning their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against USA at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 07. Tilak might return to action in the warm-up match against the Proteas.