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“Clarity lacking”: Karthik reacts to RCB star's  omission from India's T20 World Cup squad

Umesh Sharma

Dinesh Karthik reacts to RCB WK-batter's omission (Source: AFP) Dinesh Karthik reacts to RCB WK-batter's omission (Source: AFP) 

In a most hot development in the India cricketing corridors, BCCI’s selection committee announced India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026 and the five-match T20I series against New Zealand at home. Meanwhile, there have been a few shocking inclusions and omissions in and from the squad. 

What initially attracted the eyeballs was the omission of India's Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill from the T20 World Cup squad. Following this, Ishan Kishan’s inclusion as second wicketkeeper-batter choice also caught the attention as he recently garnered attention for guiding Jharkhand to maiden SMAT title. 

Ishan’s inclusion also translated into the exclusion of wicketkeeper-batter and RCB star, Jitesh Sharma from the squad, which prompted India’s former T20 World Cup-winning wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik to react. 

“I didn’t see it coming…” - Dinesh Karthik on exclusions of Gill and Jitesh

Karthik, in a video on his official Instagram handle, came up with his first reaction to India's World T20 squad and Jitesh missing the spot. 

“The big news of the day: India World Cup T20 squad is announced and guess what? Shubman Gill, the current vice captain of the T20 team, and incumbent opener has been dropped. Not just from the XI but from the squad. They wanted to bring in an extra opener and they brought in Ishan Kishan and dropped Jitesh Sharma as well. And instead of Jitesh Sharma, it’s gonna be Rinku Singh. That is huge news. Dropping Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma. I didn’t see it coming. Just tells you there’s a little bit of clarity lacking. They have backed Shubman Gill for so long and come the day they pick the squad, they have let him go,” said Karthik in a video on his official Instagram account. 

Furthermore, the RCB mentor also spoke about India’s strength in all departments, and felt that India have ‘best in world’ across every skill set. 

“India looks a strong squad on paper no matter what names you add there, this team is a solid team. Across every skillset, they have the best in the world: best opener: Abhishek Sharma, best spinner: Varun Chakaravarthy, best allrounder in the world: Hardik Pandya, the best fast bowler ever maybe: Jasprit Bumrah. So with those 4 in the squad, you are going to have a strong XI walking into that World Cup,” he added later. 

Patience and hard work pay off for Ishan and Samson

Notably, what also went a bit delightful for the cricket fans was the inclusion of Sanju Samson as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter and an opener for the prestigious cricket biennial. He is set to open the innings with Abhishek Sharma in the upcoming home edition of World T20. 

It also doubled after Ishan Kishan getting picked as second choice wicketkeeper-batter in the squad. His selection in the T20 World Cup squad is also being considered as a reward for his hard work and excellent outings in domestic cricket. 

India squad for T20 World Cup 2024 and New Zealand T20Is

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK) , Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana and Ishan Kishan (WK).