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Tilak Varma will go into the T20 World Cup having played no T20 cricket this year. The 23-year-old India batter is on his way back from testicular surgery and has been given extra time to regain match fitness.
Tilak is expected to join the India squad in Mumbai on February 3 and will miss the ongoing T20Is against New Zealand, having initially only been ruled out for the first three matches. Shreyas Iyer, who is not part of the World Cup contingent, will remain with the team till the end of the bilateral series.
A BCCI statement on Monday said Tilak has “resumed physical training and 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.”
Recently, Tilak had established himself in a fluid batting line-up, providing the star turn as India won the Asia Cup final. He was also
the highest run-getter from either side in the T20Is against South Africa in December. His absence since then created a temporary opening for Ishan Kishan, also part of World Cup squad, and he took it in style. Suryakumar Yadav, the India captain, praised Kishan’s aggression after he came in with the score at 6 for 2 against New Zealand and made 76 off 32.
Among India’s other top-order batting options, Abhishek Sharma has been in rare form, hitting India’s second-fastest T20I fifty on Sunday but Sanju Samson has fallen into a little rut with 16 runs off his last three innings. India are schedule to play a T20 World Cup warm-up match on February 4, against South Africa in Navi Mumbai, where Tilak is likely to return to action.
There has been no update on Washington Sundar’s status since he suffered a rib injury during the first ODI against New Zealand on January 11. The allrounder is one of four frontline spin-bowling options that India have picked for the World Cup. All teams taking part in the tournament can make any changes to their squads until January 30. After that, they’ll need the ICC event technical committee’s approval to bring in new players.
India A are schedule to be part of the World Cup warm-up matches as well. They will be playing USA in Navi Mumbai on February 2 and Namibia in Bengaluru on February 6. Riyan Parag, who has been struggling with a right shoulder issue, has received fitness clearance from the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, and may be part of those games.
India’s updated T20I squad for NZ T20Is
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice-capt), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravi Bishnoi
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