The biggest news from the announcement of the India squad for T20 World Cup 2026 is that Shubman Gill has not been picked for the marquee ICC tournament next year. Axar Patel has been named the vice-captain.
Ishan Kishan has been rewarded for his thunderous form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as he storms into the T20 World Cup squad, and the same squad will take on New Zealand in the five-match home T20I series at home next month, preceding the tournament that will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Further, one more significant change has happened. With Ishan Kishan being picked as the keeper and backup batsman, India have left out Jitesh Sharma and included Rinku Singh in the squad.
Gill had returned to the T20I side in the Asia Cup and was named the vice-captain, which forced Sanju Samson into the middle order and then out of the XI.
However, Gill’s returns with the bat were underwhelming: 291 runs in 15 innings at an average of 24 and a strike rate of 137 with no score of fifty.
A foot injury to Gill ahead of the Lucknow T20I against South Africa provided Samson another opportunity to return as an opener, and he showed what Gill lacked in intent by blazing 37 runs off 22 balls in Ahmedabad and setting up an opening stand of 63 runs in 5.4 overs with Abhishek Sharma.
Meanwhile, Kishan, who last played for India in November 2023, dazzled in the SMAT 2025: leading Jharkhand to the title, Kishan hammered 517 runs at a strike rate of 197 and walloped 33 sixes, topping both the tallies in the tournament. He concluded the competition with a match-winning century in the final against Haryana.
Both Rinku and Jitesh hadn’t done anything wrong. But since Kishan was selected, India went with a more experienced finisher in Rinku over Jitesh.
The rest of the squad is the same as that featured against South Africa.
Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar have retained their places after impressive performances in recent series in Australia and then against South Africa.
The squad comprises three pacers—Bumrah, Harshit, and Arshdeep—along with Pandya and Dube, and four spinners, of which two are all-rounders.
India Squad For T20 World Cup 2026:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Axar Patel (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar.
India will play five T20Is against New Zealand in January before playing two warm-up matches ahead of the main tournament.
Ajit Agarkar explains why Shubman Gill is dropped from T20 World Cup squad:
Speaking during the press conference, chief selector Ajit Agarkar was queried on Gill’s omission. Agarkar said, “We know what quality player Shubman Gill is, (but is) short of runs at the moment. Unfortunately, he missed out on this T20 World Cup and last World Cup too.”
India’s T20 World Cup campaign will get underway on February 7 against the USA in Mumbai. They will then take on Namibia in Delhi before meeting Pakistan in Colombo on February 15. India’s last Group A fixture is against the Netherlands in Ahmedabad on February 18.
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