The Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI said left-handed batter Tilak Varma, an all-rounder, would replace injured all-rounder Shivam Dube for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh.
The BCCI in a statement said that Dube has been sidelined for the T20I series due to a back injury and the Senior Men's Selection Committee today added the name of Tilak who's gained 16 caps for the format to the team. Dube was part of the Indian squad that won the T20 World Cup this year in the West Indies.
BCCI said that Hyderabad-based Tilak, who has been picked up by the Mumbai Indians for the Indian Premier League, will arrive in Gwalior on Sunday morning and join the Indian team in time to play the first T20I at Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium in Gwalior in the evening.
It was on T20I debut for Tilak against West Indies at Tarouba in 2023 when he just thrilled everybody with his scintillating stroke play. He played his first ODI this year and last played T20Is during the home series against Afghanistan in early 2023.
Injury struck him in the form of hand injuries during his two-game stint for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, and he recovered from it to return to the playing field through Duleep Trophy, where he played two games for India A and scored 10, 111 not out, 5, and 19.
It is nearly over three months since India last played a T20I game against Sri Lanka 3-0 in Pallekele in July under the full-time leadership stint of new skipper Suryakumar Yadav. India returns to the format with two matches against Bangladesh, starting with the first game at Gwalior on October 3, followed by games in New Delhi on October 9 and Hyderabad on October 12.
Updated India squad for T20I series against Bangladesh:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, Tilak Varma.