Indian cricket fans were in for quite the shock on Saturday (December 20) after Shubman Gill was dropped from the national team’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad.
Having failed to hit a half-century in 15 innings since his return to the T20I fold as deputy during the Asia Cup 2025, Gill was under severe scrutiny, especially with Sanju Samson warming the bench. As it turned out, the 26-year-old was left out of the World Cup side and Axar Patel was named the vice-captain in his place.
Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson was restored as the first-choice opener and another glovesman Ishan Kishan, who slammed a century in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final last year, made it to the squad as backup option.
The decision made by selectors caught the fans, experts and a lot of former cricketers by surprise. However, former India cricketer Atul Wassan supported the move, citing the need for format specialists as Samson.
According to Atul, it was impractical for the team management to make Gill play three formats and expect him to flourish in all of them.
“I wouldn’t say that Shubman Gill has been axed. Because, you know, I hear a lot of talk about it, but yes, it was looking impractical and not pragmatic, according to me, for somebody to be captain of the Test team and then play all three formats," Wassan said while speaking to ANI.
“The guy has to change gears and I think that is unfair these days," he added.
After a blockbuster start to his Test captaincy stint in England, Shubman Gill returned to the T20I fold as deputy during the Asia Cup 2025 in UAE, where he scored only 127 runs in seven innings at an average of 21.16 and a strike rate of 151.19. He failed to make a mark in the subsequent five T20Is on the tour of Australia, amassing 132 runs at a strike rate of 136.08 without a half-century.
Gill was given three more chances in the recently held home T20I series against South Africa, but he could return with underwhelming scores of 4, 0 and 28. As he struggled to adapt to India’s T20I template, Samson was eventually reinstated at the top of the order alongside Abhishek Sharma in the fifth T20I against Proteas.
“Let him play the IPL. I think because of IPL…I can understand the pressure from the franchise owners because they would love to have an Indian T20 player in their IPL team and that raises the economic value," Wassan stated.
“Hence, I say that Shubman Gill, going forward, has to just detach himself and this team has to be pure T20 specialists. And I think that is the way forward. All the teams in the world are doing that," he further remarked.
