Shreyas Iyer to continue till the end of T20I series, Tilak resumes physical training

Mumbai batter Shreyas Iyer, who was drafted into India’s T20 squad as a replacement for Tilak Varma, will continue with the team for the remaining two matches against New Zealand this month.

India batter Tilak Varma, who had undergone a minor surgery, has resumed physical training and is making steady progress with his rehabilitation at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. However, the Hyderabad batter will require additional time to regain full match fitness and will not be available for the final two T20Is of the ongoing IDFC First Bank five-match T20I series.

Tilak will link up with the squad in Mumbai once he has regained full match fitness on February 3, ahead of India’s warm-up match for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.

Hence, the men’s selection committee has retained Shreyas Iyer as Tilak’s replacement for the remaining two matches of the five-match T20Is against New Zealand.

India have won the series by taking an unbeatable 3-0 lead.

India’s updated T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), 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.