India National Cricket Team vs New Zealand National Cricket Team Match: India’s batter Tilak Varma was ruled out of the first three T20Is against New Zealand after undergoing surgery for an abdominal issue earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed Wednesday, January 21, 2026. Varma, who was India’s top scorer in last month’s 3-1 T20I series win over South Africa with 187 runs at a strike rate of 131.69, had surgery in Rajkot on January 7 and was discharged the following day. He is now recovering and will resume training gradually, with his availability for the remaining two matches of the five-match series dependent on his progress.
“Tilak will resume physical training and gradually return to skill-based activities once his symptoms have fully resolved and wound healing is satisfactory,” the BCCI said in an official statement.
With Varma unavailable, Shreyas Iyer was added to India’s squad for the first three matches but did not feature in the playing XI for the series opener. India captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed that Ishan Kishan would bat at number three in Varma’s absence.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to field first in the series opener at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
Playing XIs:
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy
