MUMBAI: In a major blow to India with less than a month to go for the 2026 T20 World Cup, T20 Asia Cup final hero and middle-order batter Tilak Varma has sustained a groin/lower abdomen injury, which may force him to miss almost the entire home T20I series against New Zealand. He will be fit in time for the T20 World Cup next month, though. India play their opening match of the tournament against USA at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 7.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“He will take three weeks to recover from the injury. He may be fit in time for the fifth and T20I against New Zealand on January 31 (at Thiruvananthapuram) series against New Zealand. He will surely be fit and available for the T20 World Cup,” a source in the BCCI told TOI on Thursday.
The 23-year-old left-hander was in Rajkot representing Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy when he experienced acute testicular pain on Wednesday. “He was immediately rushed to the Gokul Hospital, where scans diagnosed him with testicular torsion, and doctors advised immediate surgery. Tilak subsequently underwent successful surgery yesterday and is now doing well. He will be out of the hospital today,” Saurashtra Cricket Association president Jaydev Shah, who has been following up on Tilak’s treatment, told TOI on Thursday.The southpaw’s injury could open the doors of a T20 comeback for India’s ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer to be picked for the T20I series against the Kiwis that kicks off on January 21 in Nagpur. However, it is unlikely that Shubman Gill, India’s Test and ODI captain, would be considered.Tilak has been a key batter of the T20I setup over the past one year. The southpaw played a pivotal role in India’s Asia Cup 2025 triumph, with a match-winning 69* (53) in the final against Pakistan.
