India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad announced: Gill dropped, No Jaiswal; Ishan back for Jitesh

Gill and Jaiswal were dropped from T20 WC squad [Source: AFP]

In a significant development, the BCCI selection committee, on Saturday, announced India's star-studded side for the 2026 T20 World Cup. The selection committee head Ajit Agarkar, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav addressed the media in a press conference at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, confirming the squad of the Men in Blue for the marquee event. The same team will also play the T20I series against New Zealand.

BCCI drops Shubman Gill from India's T20 World Cup squad

In a bold move, India dropped stylish batter Shubman Gill for the T20 World Cup. At the press conference, Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Gill has been excluded from the team due to his non-performance in the T20I format. Axar Patel will serve as India's vice-captain in the marquee event.

Why India picked Ishan Kishan over Jitesh Sharma for ICC T20 World Cup?

Ishan Kishan recently enjoyed stellar success in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, leading Jharkhand to the title with his batsmanship and astute leadership. Considering India decided to pick Sanju Samson as their wicket-keeper and first-choice opener alongside Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan's inclusion made sense, as he can be a like-for-like replacement for the Kerala batter.

Despite performing in limited opportunities, Jitesh Sharma missed out on selection, as he is a middle-order batter. This suggests that India significantly amended their strategy for the T20 World Cup after deciding to remove Gill following his string of failures in the shortest format.

Rinku Singh back as finisher in India's T20 World Cup squad

The exclusion of Jitesh Sharma meant India had to bring Rinku Singh back as their first-choice finisher lower down the order. The destructive southpaw was recently dropped from the South Africa series, a call that earned massive backlash for the BCCI selection committee as well as head coach Gautam Gambhir.

SKY retained as captain; Pandya, Abhishek, Tilak to play key roles

India retained most of their core T20I players apart from Gill, assigning the leadership duties to Suryakumar Yadav despite the latter's poor form. Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma will lead India's T20I top-order, while Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh will spearhead the finishing department alongside Shivam Dube.