India squad for T20 World Cup: Shubman Gill dropped; Ishan Kishan included in 15-member squad

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Saturday announced India’s squads for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup and the five-match T20I series against New Zealand.

The T20I series will begin on January 21 in Nagpur and will serve as India’s final assignment in the format before the global tournament, scheduled from February 7 to March 8.

India have been drawn in Group A for the T20 World Cup, alongside Namibia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and the United States. The hosts will open their campaign against the USA on February 7 in Mumbai.

Despite a lean run with the bat in the recently concluded T20I series against South Africa, which India won 3–1, Suryakumar Yadav has been entrusted with the captaincy for the marquee event. In 20 matches and 18 innings this year, Suryakumar has scored 213 runs at an average of 14.20, striking at just over 125, without registering a single half-century.

Full Squads

India T20Is vs New Zealand:

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

India T20 World Cup:

India’s T20 World Cup squad sees some major changes. Notably, Shubman Gill, who was India’s vice-captain in the T20 setup, has been dropped, with all-rounder Axar Patel named as the new vice-captain.

Gill had struggled to find form since opening the innings. Brought back into the playing XI as part of the management’s long-term leadership plan, his performances remained underwhelming. In 15 T20 matches since his comeback, Gill has scored 291 runs at an average of 24.25 and a strike rate of 137, failing to register a single fifty.

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, who had performed exceptionally well, including scoring three centuries as an opener, was moved down the order.

His Asia Cup performance was mixed, though he finished as India’s third-highest run-scorer with 132 runs, behind Abhishek Sharma (314) and Tilak Varma (213). A solitary outing in Australia at No. 3 yielded little impact, after which Samson was dropped from the playing XI.

In the last T20 against South Africa, Samson opened the innings again and scored a solid 37 off 22 balls, giving India a good start.

The team management now plans to return to their original composition of playing a wicketkeeper at the top. Consequently, Jitesh Sharma has been dropped, and Ishan Kishan has been drafted as the second keeper.

Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh make the T20 World Cup squad, while Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma miss out. Kishan comes off a stellar domestic season in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he captained Jharkhand to their maiden T20 title.

He finished the season as the highest run-scorer, amassing 517 runs in 10 games at an average of 57.44 and a strike rate of 197.

Source: TOI

--Agencies