Tilak Varma is likely to be available for the fifth T20I of the ongoing series against New Zealand, it is learnt. The Hyderabad batsman, who has been ruled out of the first three matches of the series after undergoing a surgery, has started strength drills at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. He is expected to join the squad before the final T20I on January 31.
The selection committee has added Shreyas Iyer to the squad for the first three T20Is but the Indian team management already decided to play Ishan Kishan at No. 3 in Tilak’s absence. Suryakumar Yadav, India’s T20I captain, had confirmed it at the pre-match press conference, and in the match on Wednesday, Ishan looked to be in decent touch, hitting a couple of boundaries before falling prey to a pre-meditated shot off Jacob Duffy.
Earlier, a BCCI press release on January 8 had stated: “India batter Tilak Varma underwent surgery for an abdominal issue in Rajkot on Wednesday, 7 January. 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.”
It added: “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.”
Tilak is India’s first-choice No. 3 in this format, and once he is back, the southpaw could straightaway go into the playing XI.
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