Gill dropped, Kishan back for India's T20 World Cup title defence

Test and one-day captain Shubman Gill could not find a place in India's 15-member squad for next year's home Twenty20 World Cup, but stumper-batter Ishan Kishan returned to the side on Saturday.

Gill has gone 18 innings in T20 Internationals without a 50 and missed Friday's match against South Africa with a foot injury.

Sanju Samson has impressed in the limited opportunities and made a breezy 37 as Abhishek Sharma's opening partner replacing Gill in Ahmedabad.

Kishan was recalled after the stumper-batsman led Jharkhand's successful campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing a hundred in Friday's final against Haryana.

🚨India’s squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 announced 🚨

Let's cheer for the defending champions 💪#TeamIndia | #MenInBlue | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/7CpjGh60vk — BCCI (@BCCI) December 20, 2025

The same squad will play a five-match home T20 series against New Zealand next month.

Jasprit Bumrah will lead India's pace attack that also contains left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh.

Varun Chakaravarthy will spearhead the spin department, which also includes left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

India will also expect Hardik Pandya, their premier seam-bowling allrounder, to play a crucial role in their title defence in the tournament to be played between February 7 to March 8 across eight venues in India and Sri Lanka.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper)