BCCI announces India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2026; Shubman Gill axed

On Saturday, December 20, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026, which is scheduled to start on Saturday, February 7. 

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While Suryakumar Yadav will lead the defending champions in the marquee event, Axar Patel has been named as his deputy. Unfortunately, Shubman Gill has been dropped after showing inconsistency since his comeback to the format. 

Alongside Gill, Jitesh Sharma, the first-choice keeper-batter who featured in the recent five-match T20I series against South Africa, has also missed out, with Sanju Samson making it to the squad as the first-choice keeper.

Attacking opening batter Abhishek Sharma is expected to open the innings alongside the first-choice keeper-batter Sanju Samson. On the other hand, Ishan Kishan, who last played a T20I in 2023, has been picked as the backup opener and keeper-batter.

For the unversed, Kishan found a spot in the Indian squad, courtesy of his exceptional performances in the just concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 campaign, in which he scored 517 runs from 10 games at an average of 57.44 and a strike rate of 197.32.

While Tilak Varma is likely to take up the No.3 spot, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, and Washington Sundar form the middle-order. Interestingly, Rinku, who missed out on the recent South Africa series, made a comeback to the WC squad.

Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah will lead the bowling attack with Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Pandya forming the pace battery, while Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Varun Chakaravarthy will take care of the spin attack.

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India’s T20 World Cup 2026 Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

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