Mumbai: In a bold move, the national selection committee Saturday omitted out-of-form vice-captain Shubman Gill from the 15-member Indian squad picked for the home T20 World Cup.
All-rounder Axar Patel was named the vice-captain of the squad, which also saw the return of an in-form Ishan Kishan, who pipped Jitesh Sharma as the second wicketkeeper behind Sanju Samson.
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar admitted that Gill has been dropped from the squad for lack of runs.
“Obviously, he (Gill) has been short of runs, and since he wasn’t picked, we needed a vice-captain,” Agarkar said at the press conference.
🚨India’s squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 announced 🚨
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— BCCI (@BCCI) December 20, 2025
Rinku Singh, who was a part of the victorious Asia Cup winning squad, made a comeback as the designated finisher in place of Jitesh. Ishan, apart from being the second keeper, will be the reserve opener.
Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rinku Singh.
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