India announced their squads for the T20 World Cup and the preceding T20I series against New Zealand on Saturday (December 20), with Shubman Gill the most notable absentee.
Why did Shubman Gill miss out on India's T20 World Cup squad?
Having won the previous T20 World Cup, India come into this one attempting to become the first team in the history of the tournament to successfully defend their title.
Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead, with Axar Patel being named his deputy. Middle-order batter Rinku Singh has been named in the squad, as has opener and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, a late bolter after he made over 500 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, including a century in the final as he led Jharkhand to the title. Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma, who bats in the middle-order, has been left out as well.
The most notable omission is that of Shubman Gill, who until now had served as India's vice-captain in the shortest format.
"We're looking at combinations at the moment," chief selector Ajit Agarkar said at the squad announcement press conference. "If your keeper is going to bat at the top, our thought was to have another keeper just in case there's any problem."
"Shubman, we know what a quality player he is. Perhaps short of a bit of runs at the moment. He missed out on the last World Cup as well because of different combinations, more than anything else. Two keepers at the top [Samson and Kishan], that's the way we want to try it. Someone has to miss out when it's 15, and unfortunately it's Gill this time."
Gill missed the final T20I of the South Africa series due to a toe injury, with his recent form being a concern for the team.
This year, he has not crossed 50 in 15 attempts, with a strike-rate of 137.26 opening the batting, which is a touch lower than his career T20I strike-rate. As vice-captain and a player India back as their next batting superstar, it looked unlikely that Gill would lose his place, but the Agarkar-led committee have decided to make changes to the top of the order just ahead of the tournament, with the New Zealand series likely to be the testing ground for Abhishek Sharma to unite with Sanju Samson, and Kishan to be the backup.
Kishan's recent form made him a strong candidate: he was the leading run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, averaging 57.44, and striking at 197.32 in Jharkhand's title win, hitting two centuries in the process.
India's form since the last tournament has been highly encouraging; they have won all seven of their bilateral series since then, as well as the Asia Cup earlier this year.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20Is just after the previous victory, leaving at least three spots to fill. Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Yuzvendra Chahal are the other four from the 2024 squad that will not be part of the upcoming tournament.
India squad: 2026 Men's T20 World Cup & T20I series vs New Zealand
Batters: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh.
Wicketkeepers: Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson.
All-rounders: Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar.
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana.
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