BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the Indian team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 on Saturday. Along with the team announcement, he also announced the new vice-captain. A 15-member squad has been selected for the World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team, with Axar Patel as vice-captain.
Moreover, Ishan Kishan has returned to the Indian squad after 2023. Along with Kishan, match-finisher Rinku Singh has also returned to the squad, while Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma have been dropped. Yashasvi Jaiswal has once again been overlooked by the selectors. Agarkar addressed the reasons behind India’s T20 World Cup squad selection. Let's find out.
Shubman Gill not included in the squad
Ajit Agarkar said about Shubman Gill not being included in India’s T20 World Cup squad, “Shubman Gill was the vice-captain, but when he is not in the team, someone else has to be the vice-captain. When Shubman was not playing T20 cricket due to Test and ODI commitments, Axar was the vice-captain,”
“It is more about combinations. We wanted to have two wicket-keepers in case something goes wrong. There are two keepers at the top. Shubman is a quality player, but he is short of runs at the moment. Unfortunately, he missed out on the last T20 World Cup as well. It is about combinations more than anything else. Someone has to miss out when you pick 15, and it is Gill at the moment,” Agarkar added.
Why was Ishan Kishan selected for the T20 World Cup?
Agarkar stressed that they wanted to have an extra keeper at the top, and had to sacrifice a pure batter for that. In this instance, Ishan Kishan, who had a wonderful run at the just-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, found the favour ahead of Jitesh Sharma, who has been used more as a lower-order quick-hitter.
Agarkar said on Kishan's selection, “We are looking at the combination. If the keeper is going to bat at the top, at the moment Jitesh is there and he has not done too much wrong. But we need to look at the combination and a keeper at the top,”
Speaking about Kishan and his constant exclusion from the squad, Agarkar reasoned, “He bats at the top in white ball cricket. He's been in good form. He's played before for India. He has a double 100 in one day cricket. I mean, he wasn't in the Indian team because there's a Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel ahead of him. They're two pretty good players. So, it's nothing to do with anything else. And we feel that he's the best candidate at this point.”
Four spinners in the team
“There are a couple of all-rounders in Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. And maybe Surya will elaborate more on that as the captain and coach know what combinations they want to play. It gives us flexibility because there are two all-rounders and then we are very fortunate to have two wrist spinners at this point. To have that in a T20 game is a huge plus." Agarkar said.
What combinations they play will depend on the venues they play and the teams that they play. That will be decided on the day. Could be a case where they play six spinners, hopefully that’s not the case. The combinations they will decide, but we have got a lot more options to play at different positions, which I am sure is what the team management is looking for always,” he added.
Agarkar on Jitesh Sharma’s exclusion
Even wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has been dropped from the squad, making way for Ishan Kishan. However, the chief selector did not give any exact reason for leaving Jitesh out. The wicketkeeper, who plays for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL, did not get many chances in the Playing XI, and only started appearing in the lineup from the series against Australia.
“If your keeper is going to bat the top, our thought was to have another keeper who can bat at the top. Again, Jitesh hasn’t done too much wrong. But these are the combinations that the team management is looking for,” Agarkar said.
Rinku Singh returns
Rinku Singh, who was recently dropped from India's squad for the series against South Africa, is back for the World Cup and is likely to play the finisher role. Earlier, when Gill came into the playing XI, besides Samson, Rinku also bore the brunt of being dropped from the line-up despite performing consistently whenever given a chance.
India’s T20 World Cup squad:
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.