India’s T20 World Cup squad was announced on Saturday afternoon, and the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee made a ruthless and shocking call, dropping Shubman Gill from the 15-member squad. Axar Patel will serve as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy in the upcoming 20-team tournament, set to begin on February 7. Not just Gill, even Jitesh Sharma has been dropped from the team, as Ishan Kishan got the nod ahead of him as the backup wicketkeeper, owing to strong performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he led Jharkhand to the title win and also scored more than 500 runs.
No one expected the selectors to pull out such shocking and stunning selection calls, but once again, Agarkar and the rest of the committee proved that they have the ability to be ruthless and prioritise current form.
Gill had been battling a poor form of late in T20Is, with the runs not coming in the shortest format. He did not even hit a single half-century in 2025, and there were significant concerns surrounding his declining returns. With Gill out of the squad, it is now safe to say that Sanju Samson will open the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma. Recently, the Kerala-based batter played the last T20I against South Africa in the absence of injured Gill, scoring 37 runs off 22 balls.
Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, confirmed the 15-member squad in front of the media at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters in Mumbai on Saturday. Suryakumar, who is yet to lose a T20I series as the captain, will be leading the side in the 20-team tournament as he looks to follow the footsteps of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma and help India win the competition for the third time.
With Gill and Jitesh being dropped, Rinku Singh has also been recalled to the World Cup squad. It is worth mentioning that he waspart of the Asia Cup-winning squad but was dropped from the team for the South Africa series.
It is worth mentioning that the T20 World Cup squad will get some much-needed game time as they will take on New Zealand in a five-match series prior to the start of the tournament.
Axar Patel, who was ruled out of the last three T20Is due to an illness, has recovered and hence is named in the squad for the World Cup. He will now have additional responsibilities as he has to serve as the vice-captain.
India have also opted to go in with four spinners in the squad – Axar, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy and Washington Sundar.
How many pacers?
Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana are the three frontline pacers included in the squad, and the side will also have Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube to get some more overs in.
The T20 World Cup 2026 is scheduled to take place from February 7 to March 8 in India and Sri Lanka. India will begin their title defence on the opening day when they take on the United States at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
India are placed in Group A alongside Namibia, Pakistan, the Netherlands and the United States. The marquee match between India and Pakistan will be played on Sunday, February 15, in Colombo.
No host nation has ever won the T20 World Cup, and it remains to be seen whether India can manage to script history by winning the tournament on home soil.
The selection committee have also not named any standbys for the tournament. “The whole tournament will be played in our country so all players will be ready. We don’t have any standbys for now,” said the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.
India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026 and five T20Is against New Zealand: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Axar Patel (vice-captain), Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, and Ishan Kishan.
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