Shubman Gill was the notable omission from India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad announced on Saturday (December 20). He looked to be a sure-shot for the marquee event after his return to the format and being given vice-captaincy and the opener's role.
However, the 26-year-old struggled to make an impact with the bat, scoring 291 runs in 15 matches at an average of 24.25 and a strike-rate of 137.26.
As a result, Gill was axed from the side with Sanju Samson being restored as first-choice opener and Ishan Kishan selected as cover. Axar Patel was reinstated as India's vice-captain in T20Is.
Some of the decisions made by selectors caught the fans, experts and a lot of former cricketers by surprise. Ex-India women’s team coach WV Raman was also left bemused, saying that the move to leave out Gill was like preferring Kris Srikkanth over Sunil Gavaskar for the T20 format.
"Gill hasn't been dropped for any significant fault of his. Just that the players around him are more explosive than him, a quality that is essential in modern-day T20 cricket. In an imaginary scenario, it is almost like choosing K Srikkanth over Sunil Gavaskar for the T20 format, knowing full well who the better batter in the format actually could be. That's why I was wondering why it was necessary to make him the T20 vice-captain at that stage, when so many others fit the T20 bill so well," Raman said while speaking to TOI.
Ahead of the England Test tour, Shubman Gill altered his technique a bit, playing with a much straighter bat. However, Raman doesn't think the technical tweak impacted his batting in the shortest format.
“Rohit Sharma plays with a straight bat, but does that restrict his hitting? Sometimes a straight bat opens up more scoring options even in T20 cricket. It is more about who you are as a player and we have to admit that some of the others around him are naturally more explosive,” Raman stated.
WV Raman asked Gill to keep his chin up and not think too much about his ouster from India's T20 team.
"If I was his coach, I would have told him that there is no place for emotion in a player's life. It is a decision that has been taken with the team composition in mind and Gill should not think for a second that he has become a lesser player," Raman remarked.
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, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan
