Ex-India Star Picks Alternate Squad For T20 World Cup 2026. Shubman Gill Misses Out Again

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already announced a 15-member squad for T20 World Cup 2026. The same set of players will feature in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand that takes place right before the mega event. On Wednesday, former India batter Aakash Chopra picked an alternate squad with the remaining players. Interestingly, he didn't name star batter Shubman Gill, who has been dropped from India's T20I team due to a poor string of performances.

Aakash Chopra's alternate Team India squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Jitesh Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul.

What hogged the limelight during BCCI's squad announcement for the T20 World Cup was the snub of out-of-form batter Gill. He had a lean patch after being brought into India's T20I team as vice-captain ahead of the Asia Cup this year. Gill played 15 innings and scored 291 runs at an average of 24.25 and a strike rate of 137-plus. His poor form led to the selectors dropping him while naming players for the T20 showpiece next year.

Gill had come into India's T20I team this year when everything was going right in the side, if not perfect. He turned out to be the top scorer in the England Test series, and impressed by it, the selectors decided to call him into the T20I set-up. The player thus made a return to the T20I format after a gap of more than a year and replaced Sanju Samson in the opening slot. The fact that Samson was dropped despite impressive performances at the position drew widespread criticism.

While naming the squad for the T20 World Cup, the BCCI selectors took a U-turn, naming Samson in the team instead of Gill.

India's five-T20I series against the Blackcaps begins on January 21, and ends on 31st of that month. There is just a six-day gap before the Suryakumar Yadav-led side starts its T20 World Cup campaign against United States of America at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on February 7.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team Shubman Gill Aakash Chopra Jitesh Sharma Yashasvi Jaiswal T20 World Cup 2026