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India wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma broke silence on being dropped from the team's squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. His omission from the squad came as a big surprise due to the fact that he had been their first-choice wicketkeeper for their T20I series against South Africa. He had also played three games out of five against Australia in November. Though he didn't give any standout performances with the bat during this time, he was still expected to make the squad for the tournament.
However, the selectors decided to pick Sanju Samson as the side's first-choice wicketkeeper and recalled Ishan Kishan as the backup option. Speaking on his omission from the team, Jitesh remarked that he wasn't aware of his snub until the squad was announced. He then had discussions with the coaches and selectors and was satisfied with the explanation that they gave regarding his snub.
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"I wasn’t aware of my omission until the squad was announced. After that, I agreed with the explanation given by the selectors in the press conference; it was a valid reason. Later, I had discussions with the coaches and selectors, and I felt their reasoning was fair. I completely understood what they wanted to explain to me, and I agreed with it," Jitesh told Crictracker.
Gill dropped as well
Apart from Jitesh, the selectors also decided to snub Shubman Gill from India's squad for the T20 World Cup. The batter had made his comeback to T20Is in the Asia Cup, but wasn't able to play any big knock. He was made to open alongside Abhishek Sharma in the series against Australia and South Africa as well, but failed to deliver. The 26-year-old was eventually dropped after constant failures.
Rinku back in the fray
Meanwhile, India decided to bring back Rinku Singh alongside Kishan. The former hadn't got many chances to play for the team in the last few months of 2025. He only played one match in the Asia Cup which was the final against Pakistan after Hardik Pandya was ruled out right before the match. He then only played one match against Australia before being dropped for the T20I series against South Africa.
India's T20 World Cup squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan Rinku Singh
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