Shubman Gill's bat hasn't done much talking since returning to India's T20I setup.
The omission of Shubman Gill, the India T20I vice-captain, from the Men in Blue T20 World Cup 2026 squad remains a hot topic of debate. The BCCI selection committee chose to exclude Shubman Gill, who was not in great form with the bat in the T20I format.
Gill had made his T20I return for India after one year, in the Asia Cup 2025, and managed only 291 runs in 15 matches thus far, with no fifty to boast of and a strike rate of 137.26.
Instead, BCCI chose to include Ishan Kishan as the backup opener and wicketkeeper and Rinku Singh as the finisher.
However, a question also remains about the form of India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. In 2025, Suryakumar has made just 218 runs in 21 matches, with the best score of 47* and a strike rate of 123.16.
Robin Uthappa, the winner of the 2007 T20 World Cup, gave a clear explanation of Yadav and Gill's T20 destiny. He claimed that BCCI selectors decided to include skipper Suryakumar Yadav instead of Shubman Gill because only one player with bad form can be carried in World Cup selections.
"With World Cup sides, you can carry up to one player who's not in great form; you can't carry more than that. That is a problem,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
"I think he has been dropped because SKY is not making runs," the anchor Jarrod Kimber asked.
"That's probably it. I can tell you, SKY is not out of form, but he is out of runs. It is very difficult to understand if you have not played cricket at a certain level. Like Shubman Gill is out of form,” Uthappa said.
Commenting on Gill, Uthappa said he seemed to be confused.
"I am not saying he [Shubman Gill] deserved to be there, given his current form and the fact he's not looking like he's in good nick. You can see his eyes. When you look at him, it feels like there's a lot of confusion, even when he's batting. He's getting some good deliveries. Lungi bowled really well through the series and troubled Shubman when he played," Uthappa said.
He continued by saying that he was taken aback by India's T20 World Cup team.
"I was shocked. I just came back home, and I was spending time with the kids, and I was tired because I traveled late at night. I took a nap, and I woke up, saw my phone, and I was like, "What?" I was really happy. I think they picked a really solid side. But I think the way they've gone about it, and for me, it's not dropping people; it's about how you go about making these decisions," he stated.
"You shouldn't have brought him in the first place as a vice-captain. You can bring him in; you already have a vice-captain. Leave that as it is, or don't announce a vice-captain,” Uthappa added.
In place of Shubman Gill, Axar Patel was named India's vice-captain for the T20 World Cup 2026 in the squad.