India’s 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and the upcoming five-match series against New Zealand was announced on Saturday (December 20).

Shubman Gill, who was the vice-captain of India's T20I side, couldn't find a spot in the squad along with Jitesh Sharma, despite both men being a part of the last few assignments.

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who also bats at the top, earned a surprise call-up to the 15-member group after leading Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title. Finisher Rinku Singh also returned to the Indian T20I side after being ignored for the recently concluded five-match series against South Africa.

While Gill’s omission and Kishan’s comeback hogged the headlines, Jitesh’s snub somewhat went unnoticed. However, batting legendary Sunil Gavaskar didn’t forget to acknowledge it.

Gavaskar mentioned that Jitesh did nothing wrong to be dropped from India's T20 World Cup squad. He went on to appreciate Jitesh’s keeping skills, even praising him to be the best after MS Dhoni at ‘helping the captain with DRS calls’.

“He (Jitesh) did nothing wrong. He was a very good wicketkeeper in his chances, and after MS Dhoni, he was perhaps the best at helping the captain with DRS calls from behind the stumps," Gavaskar said on JioStar.

The 76-year-old seemed to get Jitesh’s age wrong, as he called the 32-year-old ‘young’. “It is tough on him, but he is young. He just needs to go back to domestic cricket and keep performing," Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar expressed his delight on Ishan Kishan’s inclusion, saying that the southpaw proved IPL was not the only criterion for India selection.

“When you see someone performing, you pick him. Ishan Kishan has already been in the side and shown he can do it. That is a big plus. His current form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy proves that domestic cricket performance must be the selection criterion, not just the IPL," Gavaskar remarked.

“I am very happy for him. He was out of the team for a couple of years but made a fantastic comeback by leading his state team Jharkhand to a title winning season."

India's squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wk)