Shubman Gill, India’s Test and ODI captain, was shockingly left out of the T20 World Cup 2026 squad. While poor form and team balance were cited, reports point to limited communication and a key role of head coach Gautam Gambhir in the decision.
Team India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill’s name was missing in the list of players who were selected to the 15-member India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, which will take place in February and March. The squad was officially announced by the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, with the presence of chief selector Ajit Agarkar and India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav during the press conference at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Saturday, December 20.
Most of the players have retained their place India T20I squad for the marquee event, but there were surprising omissions, including Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma. Gill’s exclusion was particularly a topic of debate, given that he was appointed as the T20I vice-captain ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 and was touted as next-in-line to take over the leadership mantle across all formats of the game.
Shubman Gill’s poor run of form this year, during which he failed to score a single fifty since returning to the T20I setup as vice-captain, has been seen as a key factor behind his exclusion from India’s T20 World Cup squad. BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar stated that his lack of runs and team combinations were the reasons Gill did not make the roster, which is tasked with defending the Men in Blue’s crown.
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What Led to Shubman Gill’s Squad Exclusion?
Since Shubman Gill was appointed as the T20I vice-captain and is already the skipper of ODI and Test formats, it was expected that the 26-year-old would make it to the squad, with the backing of team management and selectors, despite a poor run of form in the format this year.
The Punjab batter has had a forgettable year in T20Is this year, amassing 291 runs at an average of 24.25 and a strike rate of 137.26 in 15 matches. In the recently concluded T20I series against South Africa, Gill endured an abysmal run of form, scoring just 32 runs at an average of 10.67 in three matches before he was ruled out of the series decider due to a foot injury, making way for Sanju Samson into the playing XI as an opener.
On the day of the squad announcement, many were expecting Gill to retain his place as a vice-captain, with the BCCI and team management keeping faith in him to rediscover his lost form in the T20I series against New Zealand before the marquee event. However, the moment BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia announced the India squad, Gill’s name was conspicuously absent, a decision selectors said was driven by team combinations rather than solely by form. However, former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was left ‘surprised’ by Gill’s omission from the India squad, emphasising that Shubman Gill is a ‘quality batter’ whose class is permanent even if his recent form dipped.
Shubman Gill was replaced by Ishan Kishan, who was picked as a backup wicketkeeper-batter to Sanju Samson following his impressive performance in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025/26 season, where he led Jharkhand to its maiden title of the tournament by defeating Haryana in the final.
Gautam Gambhir, in the Spotlight after Shubman Gill’s Exclusion
The exclusion of Shubman Gill from the India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 sparked a debate, but it also put Gautam Gambhir in the spotlight amid the reports of playing a key role in the decision to omit India’s two-format captain from the 15-member squad for the marquee event.
According to the report by the Press Trust of India (PTI), the decision to exclude Shubman Gill from the squad was made when the fourth T20I between India and South Africa was abandoned due to ‘excessive fog’ and poor air quality at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. However, Gill was not informed about his possible exclusion by either from head coach Gambhir or the T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav until the morning of the official squad announcement.
The report further added that Gill was willing to play the series decider against South Africa in Ahmedabad, but the team management, led by Gambhir, had already decided to move on, later using a minor toe injury as the reason for his exclusion. This move reportedly left the batter blindsided and added fuel to the growing controversy surrounding his omission.
While the skipper Suryakumar Yadav, whose record over the past year has been poor, scoring just two fifties, has been given another chance, it is natural that Gill may feel disappointed and undervalued by the abrupt manner of his exclusion from the India squad for T20 World Cup 2026.
‘Decision Has More Footprints of the Head Coach’
The latest report by Press Trust of India raises questions about the transparency and communication regarding the team selection for a major tournament like the T20 World Cup. In Shubman Gill’s case, it appears that there has been no proper communication either from the coach or team management or the India T20I skipper.
Former national selector stated that the call had stronger inputs from the head coach rather than being a unanimous selection committee decision.
“If making him vice-captain for the Asia Cup riding on his England Test heroics was a wrong move as Sanju (Samson) had done nothing wrong, the move to drop him just five games before the start of the T20 World Cup indicates that it is more of a course correction done by Agarkar’s panel,” the former national selector told PTI.
“And the decision has more footprints of the head coach, who’s actually not known for maintaining continuity," he added.
It remains to be seen whether the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will clarify the role of Gautam Gambhir in the controversial omission and how this decision might impact team morale ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026.
