Aakash Chopra made Shreyas Iyer as captain of his alternate Indian squad for T20 WC.
Shubman Gill found no place as former India opener Aakash Chopra unveiled his alternative India squad for the T20 World Cup 2026, comprised of players who are as good as the ones who are chosen to represent India in the ICC event, but were not picked.
Aakash Chopra, a cricketer-turned-media pundit, took on the task of picking a squad from players overlooked by the BCCI selectors for India’s T20 World Cup campaign.
In doing so, he made a subtle dig at the popular narrative around Gill's role as an anchor in T20Is. According to the former opener, Gill's removal basically places him outside the country's top 30 T20 cricketers.
Chopra stated that if the selectors considered an accumulator unnecessary in the present T20 format, he saw no reason to include one either.
"You will ask why I have not picked Shubman Gill. When the Indian team doesn't need an anchor, why will I have him as an anchor? Shubman Gill is the only anomaly," Chopra said after announcing his squad on his X account.
Chopra had picked Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal as openers of his India squad.
"We have left him for Test cricket and ODI cricket. Currently, according to the narrative that has been created, we have not picked him. We should have picked him, but we haven't. Many people say I was doing PR work for Gill. Take it; I have not picked him," he added.
Shubman Gill made his T20I return in the 2025 Asia Cup in September and was also named India's vice-captain in the format. His inclusion broke the successful opening combo of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.
Despite being backed for considerable matches, Gill failed to grab the opportunities, failing to make a single fifty in 15 innings he played in 2025 in T20Is.
As a result, Shubman Gill was dropped from India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad, with Ishan Kishan replacing him as backup opener and wicketkeeper.
Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra picked Shreyas Iyer as the captain of his alternative Indian squad for the T20 WC 2026 and had Jitesh Sharma and Rishabh Pant as wicketkeepers. Nitish Kumar Reddy, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Chahar were chosen as the all-rounders.
Mohammed Siraj and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were chosen as the main pacers, while Yuzvendra Chahal was chosen as the specialist spinner. Chopra also picked Mohammad Shami, Vipraj Nigam, and Shashank Singh, along with KL Rahul, in the reserves.
Aakash Chopra’s alternative 15 T20 World Cup squad
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rishabh Pant, Jitesh Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Reserves: Mohammad Shami, KL Rahul, Vipraj Nigam, Shashank Singh.