India's T20 World Cup 2026 Squad Revealed: Gill Out, Kishan Returns
It was a shocking decision to leave Shubman Gill out as the Indian cricket team for T20 World Cup 2026 was announced on Saturday. Rinku Singh and Ishan Kishan came back in the team while Axar Patel was given the responsibility of vice, captain.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) December 20: Star power team India's 15-strong squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup was confirmed today with captain Suryakumar Yadav and chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirming the squad at the press conference. The tournament starts on February 7, so how the squad in the upcoming tournament turns out might be worth following.
Squad Shocker: Shubman Gill Dropped, Kishan’s Triumphant Return
Big picture takes us to one of the biggest moments when Shubman Gill is left out of the World Cup and New Zealand series. Shubman has had a record of four T20I fifties in 36 matches, and has below-par average and strike-rate. Gill did not get a single fifty this year in 15 innings.
Star batter Ishan Kishan has made a comeback to T20I with a match-winning century against Haryana at SMAT 2025 final.
"Shubman was the vice-captain, he's not in the team. Axar was the vice-captain when the T20s used to clash. About continuity, you're looking at combinations. If your keeper is going to bat at the top, you want a keeper who can play there. Jitesh was there, Shubman is a quality player and unfortunate to miss out. Combinations more than anything else, two keepers at the top. Rinku comes who gives that lower middle order option," said Agarkar regarding the selection.
Post-2024 Overhaul: 7 Veterans Exit
7 T20 squad members of 2024 World Cup will no longer form in title defence. That includes the retired trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja. Yuzvendra Chahal did not play in the tournament and has since not even been part of any Indian squad since last playing for India in August 2023. Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj have not played T20Is since July 2024, as well.
Early Announcement for Stability
So as a change from usual practice, BCCI have in fact decided to announce the World Cup squad nearly six weeks before the competition. That early step is aimed at both ensuring stability and giving both players and management a firm and longer head-start towards preparation for the World Cup 2026. This announcement is also the team for the preceding T20I series against New Zealand.
Between February 7 and March 8, India and Sri Lanka are presenting a co-hosted T20 World Cup. The ICC opened a ticket sale for the 10th edition of the T20 showpiece on its platform with the 20-team tournament set to be played in eight venues.
The World Cup will be hosted in cities in India by Ahmedabad, Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Sri Lanka will have Colombo (2 venues) and Kandy as the two locations for the World Cup in the country.
Full India Squad Lineup
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh.
