Why was Shubman Gill dropped from India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad?

Shubman Gill was the vice-captain of India for the South Africa T20I series.

India’s squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has now been announced, and the biggest headline is the exclusion of Shubman Gill from the team.

India‘s current Test and ODI skipper has had a miserable series in South Africa, scoring less than 50 runs in the three matches he played, unable to support Abhishek Sharma at the other end, who had a stellar outing.

Gill’s poor form coincided with Sanju Samson’s remarkable cameo yesterday in the fifth T20I, as the Keralite took the opportunity which came his way with both hands.

With Samson, India can now fill both their opening and wicket-keeper problems. Speaking on the team selection, chief selector Ajit Agarkar emphasised the primary reasons which led to Shubman Gill‘s exclusion.

“Shubman, we know what a quality player he is, perhaps short of a little bit of runs at the moment, unfortunate to have missed out in the last World Cup as well, because we went with a different combination, but it’s the combinations more than anything else…Someone has to miss out when you pick 15, and unfortunately, it’s Gill at this point”.

“Shubman was the vice-captain, but 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 and Shubman both are quality players, but unfortunately, they miss out. Combinations, more than anything else, keep two keepers at the top. Rinku comes, who gives that lower middle order option,” he added.

“It’s not about his form or anything, it’s just about combinations. We wanted to have a keeper at the top, and someone like Rinku or Washington Sundar in the lower order. It’s important to have a good start in this format. We wanted to win the powerplay, and when we analysed how we could do that, we decided to go ahead with this combination,” opined India’s T20I skipper Surya Kumar Yadav.

Apart from Gill, Jitesh Sharma too faced the axe. Ishan Kishan was rewarded for his sensational campaign at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Axar Patel was promoted to the position of vice-captain, replacing Gill. Rinku Singh has now cemented his place in the team after being left out of the previous T20 World Cup squad.

India’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026- 

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Axar Patel (vc), Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Singh.

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