T20 World Cup 2026: ‘Shubman is a good player, but he…’ selector Agarkar’s statement after giving dutch to Gill

Ajit Agarkar commented on Shubman Gill: 2026 T20 World CupThe BCCI selection committee announced the Indian squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup on 20 December. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian team. The surprise in this selection is the Indian Test and ODI captain and T20 vice-captain Shubman Gillhas been kicked out of the team. Akshar Patel will now hold the post of vice-captain. Ajit Selection Committee President Ajit Agarkar has reacted after Gillal’s exclusion.

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What did Agarkar say?

Chief selector of Indian cricket team Ajit Agarkar said on Saturday, Shubman GillHe was left out of the T20 World Cup squad due to his lack of runs in recent matches and problems with the team. Gill, who was recently appointed as the vice-captain of the Indian T20 team, did not perform well in the home series against Sri Lanka. He scored four, zero and 28 runs in the series, while missing the fifth match due to injury. In a press conference after the team announcement, Agarkar said, We know what a great player he is, but maybe he is not scoring that many runs right now.

Agarkar further said, “Unfortunately, he was dropped in the last World Cup too because we decided to play with a different team.” Combinations should be considered when choosing a team. When you pick a team of 15, someone has to be dropped, and unfortunately, Gill was dropped this time. The team management wanted an extra wicketkeeper in the top order, thus sacrificing a batsman. Ishan Kishan, who performed brilliantly in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, was preferred. We were looking at this combination and felt the need for a wicketkeeper who can bat in the top order.

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Talking about Jitesh, Agarkar said, Jitesh did nothing wrong, but we had to remember the combination and the need for a wicketkeeper in the top order. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav also said the combination was the main reason behind Gill’s omission. Surya said, T20 World Cup Later (2024), when we went to Sri Lanka, we scored more than 200 runs in some matches and Gill was part of that team. We wanted one wicketkeeper in the top order and Rinku or Vashi (Washington Sundar) in the bottom order, so we had to have an extra wicketkeeper in the top order. There is no question about Gill’s form. Suryakumar is not too worried about his prolonged slump and is confident of regaining his explosive batting before the upcoming T20 World Cup.