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India’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 was announced in a press conference on December 20. Axar Patel was reinstated as vice-captain, Rinku Singh made a comeback after missing the South Africa series whereas Ishan Kishan has been called up after two years.
As chief selector Ajit Agarkar pointed out that they can only select 15, here is a list of prominent players who did not make it to the T20 World Cup 2026 squad -
Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill has played 22 T20Is since India's T20 World Cup 2024 final triumph. However, Gill did not score a single half-century in T20Is in 2025. With Sanju Samson at the top doing well, vice-captain Gill has been dropped from the side.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal has been missing from the T20I side as Gill was preferred over him. He has played just six T20Is since T20 World Cup 2024 final. The 23-year-old's last T20I appearance was against Sri Lanka in July 2024. Recently, he scored a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025 clash against Haryana in a run chase.
Jitesh Sharma
Jitesh Sharma has been dropped once again just before the T20 World Cup. Last time, it was Rishabh Pant’s comeback. This time, it is Kishan who has been rewarded for SMAT 2025 performances. Jitesh got just two chances in the T20I series against South Africa. He scored a 17-ball 27 in the unsuccessful run chase. Earlier, he hit a few boundaries in the series opener and remained unbeaten.
Mohammed Siraj
With Harshit Rana cementing his spot and two other frontline pacers being Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj did not find a place. In SMAT 2025, Siraj claimed seven wickets from four appearances but it wasn’t enough to earn a recall. He hasn’t played a T20I since the Sri Lanka tour last year as well.
Rishabh Pant
As Jitesh Sharma is being preferred in the middle over, Rishabh Pant hasn’t played a T20I since the Sri Lanka tour. Pant hasn’t played any white-ball cricket in over a year, be it ODIs or in T20Is. The T20 World Cup 2024-winning member was not picked as Kishan has been in tremendous form of late.
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami has not been in the scheme of things across formats since the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Agarkar cited his fitness issues as the reason behind the continued snub. Meanwhile, the veteran pacer has continued to play domestic cricket. His last T20I appearance was against England earlier this month, leading up to Champions Trophy 2025. From seven games, he claimed 16 wickets at nearly 15 apiece for Bengal in SMAT 2025.
Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag was once backed as an all-rounder in the T20I side. Since getting ruled out due to injury, he hasn’t made a comeback. His last T20I appearance was against Bangladesh where he contributed with a 13-ball 34 cameo. However, he has struggled of late. In six SMAT 2025 innings, his high score was 15.
Nitish Kumar Reddy
Reddy was part of the T20I series on Australia tour but a quadriceps ruled him out. He hasn’t played T20Is since. In three SMAT 2025 games for Andhra Pradesh, he scored 60 runs and claimed six wickets. He claimed a hat-trick against Madhya Pradesh as well. The pace-bowling all-rounder wasn’t picked as India already have the services of Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube.
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