T20 World Cup: Gill dropped, Agarkar explains the reason for the selection

Mumbai: The Indian team for the T20 World Cup 2026 was announced on Saturday, with Shubman Gill’s exclusion from the squad coming as a major shock. Axar Patel was named vice-captain, while Ishan Kishan made a spectacular return to the international setup.
The other change in the team was the inclusion of Rinku Singh in place of Jitesh Sharma. Following Gill’s exclusion, Sanju Samson will return to the top order for India and will also keep wickets after his impressive performance in the recently concluded fifth T20I against South Africa on Friday.
At a joint press conference held at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters here, Secretary Devjit Saikia, India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, and Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar addressed the media.
Excerpts from the press conference:
On the decision to drop Gill from the World Cup squad, Chief Selector Agarkar said, “We are focusing on continuity; we want a wicketkeeper-batsman in the top order. We know how good a player Shubman is, even though he hasn’t scored runs recently. It’s more about the combination than anything else. Some people will be out of a particular format because they are playing in other formats. Don’t make too much of an issue out of it. In the last couple of years, Gill has been the world’s number 1 batsman. He knows what he needs to do, he knows what is required, and hopefully, by the time the World Cup comes, he will be back to number 1.”
He further added, “We have always discussed what is the best combination, or what is the best way forward. Was anyone’s place under threat? Nobody is talking about (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, he was in the last T20 World Cup team and he is not here now. So, as I said, this is the best combination we have come up with for the upcoming tournament.” Following Ishan Kishan’s return to international cricket and his selection for the World Cup after his stellar performance in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Agarkar said, “He bats at the top in white-ball cricket and he’s in good form. We felt that having a keeper at the top would give us more combinations.”
On the inclusion of several all-rounders in the team, Agarkar said, “Having so many all-rounders gives us flexibility. We have some all-rounders like Axar and Washington. We also have some wrist spinners, which is fortunate for us. Which team we play will depend on the team we are playing against; that decision will be made on the day, but we have a lot of options to work with.”
Regarding the capable players who couldn’t make it to the team and the options that weren’t considered, Agarkar said, “Even if you talk about 10 more names, these are still the same 15 players we have selected. It’s always good when players perform well in different tournaments, but right now we feel this is a strong team.”
India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav said he was happy with the selection and that the team looks balanced. He said, “The team looks balanced; we have filled all the spots very well and we have a lot of different combinations. So we are quite happy.”
On Gill’s exclusion from the team, he said, “It’s not about his form or anything else; it’s just about the combination. We wanted a keeper at the top, and someone like Rinku or Washington in the lower order.”
Speaking about Tilak Varma’s position, he said, “Gautam bhai (Gautam Gambhir) and I have started to feel that the left-right combination is a bit overrated, but we have fixed that position in the batting order for Tilak.” Regarding the team’s top-order combination, the captain said, “Getting a good start is crucial in this format. We wanted to win the powerplay, and when we analyzed how we could do that, we decided to go with this combination. You watch your old videos where you’ve batted well. I’m actually batting very well in the nets.” Suryakumar’s recent form has been a major topic of discussion. When the captain was asked about it, he said, “This phase has gone on a bit long; everyone goes through this in their career. I know what I need to do and what to work on, and we have five matches against New Zealand where I can regain my form.”
Finally, Saikia answered a media question about why the team hasn’t announced any reserve players, to which he replied, “There are no standbys for this team right now because the tournament is happening in our own country. Changes can and will be made accordingly if needed.”
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Axar Patel (vice-captain), Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.