India batter Tilak Varma has been ruled out of the first three T20Is against New Zealand following abdominal surgery in Rajkot, the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed on Thursday. The 23-year-old underwent emergency surgery at a super-speciality hospital on Wednesday evening after experiencing acute abdominal pain earlier in the day. Medical scans indicated the immediate need for the procedure, prompting doctors to operate without delay.
Providing an update on the situation, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said Varma is recovering well after the surgery. “He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning and is scheduled to fly back to Hyderabad on Friday. He is currently stable and progressing well,” Saikia said in an official statement. The board also outlined the roadmap for Varma’s return to cricketing activity. “Tilak will resume physical training and gradually return to skill-based activities once his symptoms have fully resolved and wound healing is satisfactory. He is ruled out of the first three T20Is against New Zealand. His availability for the remaining two matches will be assessed based on his progress during the return-to-training and skill phases,” the statement added. The recovery timeline has also cast doubt over Varma’s availability for India’s T20 World Cup opener against the United States of America at the Wankhede Stadium on February 7. India are scheduled to play further group matches against Namibia on February 12, Pakistan on February 15, and the Netherlands on February 18. Varma has been a vital presence in India’s T20I setup, scoring 1,183 runs in 37 innings at an impressive average of 49.29 and a strike rate of 144.09, including two centuries and six half-centuries. The absence could force captain Suryakumar Yadav to move up to the No. 3 position in the batting order. India are yet to name a replacement for the first three T20Is against New Zealand, which will be played in Nagpur, Raipur, and Guwahati on January 21, 23, and 25 respectively. The final two matches of the five-game series are scheduled for Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram on January 28 and 31.
