The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 on Saturday, December 20. The Men in Blue will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, with his deputy Shubman Gill dropped from the 15-member squad.
Axar Patel has been reinstated as the T20I vice-captain after being replaced by Gill from the Asia Cup 2025 onwards. However, with Gill's returns dropping and India wanting to go back to their template of a keeper opener, the ODI and Test captain was dropped from the team for the global showpiece tournament that kicks off on February 7 and will be played in India and Sri Lanka.
Kishan recalled, Rinku back
The 15-member squad has all the bases covered with the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan at the top. Kishan has made a comeback into the Indian team and is in line to play his first international match since November 2023.
While Kishan is back after a long time, India have called back finisher Rinku Singh into the squad for the World Cup. The Southpaw provides one of the toughest specialisations in T20 cricket: finishing matches.
India have made only two changes to the squad that recently won a five-match T20I series against South Africa by 3-1. Apart from Gill, wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma has also been dropped, with the Indian think tank wanting a back-up wicketkeeper who can also open.
Why India have not named reserve players?
Meanwhile, the BCCI has not named any reserve players for the T20 World Cup 2026, unlike when they did it for the T20 World Cup 2024.
In the previous World Cup, the Men in Blue had reserve options in Gill, Rinku, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan. BCCI secretary Devajit Saika has revealed the rationale behind not naming reserve players for the tournament.
"There are no standbys since the whole tournament is happening in the country and we can replace any player at any point in time," BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said during the squad announcement press conference.
India's squad for T20 World Cup 2026:
Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice-capt), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wk)
