The one to replace Gill is Axar Patel now who is the vice-captain of the team.
On Saturday, the announcement about the team India T20 World Cup 2026 squad was made and Shubman Gill took an exit from the Medal winning team. He has been ditched, as he was Vice-Captain of T20 squad of Team India in T20 World Cup 2026 and New Zealand series squad. The one to replace Gill is Axar Patel now who is the vice-captain of the team. Also, the inclusion of Ishan Kishan in the squad has been done. Ishan Kishan has just played with an exceptional performance at the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy where he left his mark.
Gill’s unable to perform in South Africa as well as in the Asia Cup 2025 are may be one of the key reasons of his ouster. Furthermore, Gill has suffered multiple injuries in the past few days. The Punjab-origin cricketer suffered nexk injury during Test series against South Africa, while during T20 series against the Proteas he suffered toe injury.
Team India T20 World Cup 2026 Squad
The Indian squad will be led by Suryakumar Yadav and includes players like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel who is the vice-captain, Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar and Ishan Kishan.
Other than Gill, the wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma doesn’t make it to this team as the Ishan Kishan has made a stunning return to the team after being in phenomenal form and thus leading the Jharkhand team to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Rinku Singh is also returning to the T20I team after he missed the trip to South Africa, where India won the series 3-1.
“We are reviewing various combinations. We had a plan to include yet another keeper in the squad. Gill is a quality player, and missing out on this is unfortunate, but it is the type of combination we want. Ishan is the opener; he is running into form, and he has played for India before.
He was not in the squad because Jurel and Pant were already ahead of him; Sanju is currently at the top. Ishan will be at the top. This is the combination we are considering right now. We believed that he is the best backup keeper at this stage,” Agarkar said.
Scheduled to play 40 group matches, the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup will take place from February 7 to March 8, according to the latest information. The 40 group matches will be scheduled to be played until February 20. Super Eights beginning on February 21 will feature the top two teams from each of the four groups.
The Men’s T20 World Cup is being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka for the second time. Sri Lanka were the hosts of the 2012 edition, while India has not hosted the event since 2016. As per the announcement, India will first play three matches Agaisnt New Zealand in a series of which the last two will be one-day internationals, after which they will play a series of five T20Is starting on January 21 in Nagpur, followed by games in Raipur, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.
In the 2023 Men’s T20 World Cup, defending champions India find themselves in Group A along with Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, and Namibia. The Men in Blue will be working to become the first squad in history to make it two-in-a-row in the T20 World Cup, the first side to win the T20 World Cup on home soil, and the first team to lift the T20 world cup for the third time.
India’s Cup journey will commence against USA at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 7, 2023, and then will face Namibia at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on February 12, 2023.
