Race Against Time: Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar Head To BCCI CoE To Regain Fitness Before T20 World Cup 2026
India players Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar have checked into the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru in a bid to regain full fitness ahead of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup starting on February 7.
Tilak, a mainstay in India’s T20I set-up, was ruled out of the first three games of the five-match series against New Zealand, starting in Nagpur on Wednesday, after undergoing an emergency surgery in Rajkot earlier this month for a lower abdominal issue while playing for Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy league stage.
Washington, on the other hand, suffered a left rib injury while bowling in the ODI series opener against New Zealand in Vadodara on January 11 and has been ruled out of the entire T20I series. In place of Washington, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is in the squad, while Tilak is replaced by right-handed batter Shreyas Iyer for the first three games.
“Yes, both Tilak and Washington are at CoE for their respective rehab programmes. For Washington, further tests would be done, and rehab will start as per their outcome. In terms of Tilak, he is yet to be assessed as of now.
“But it is understood that efforts will be made in such a way that he becomes fully fit to join the Indian team for the last two T20Is in Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram,” sources familiar with the matter told IANS on Tuesday.
Sources have also informed that India’s Test vice-captain, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, could report to the CoE later this week for starting his rehab for a right side-strain. Pant picked up the injury while batting in the practice session on the eve of the ODI series opener against New Zealand in Vadodara on January 10.
The Indian team management is hoping that all injury problems are resolved well before next month’s T20 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
