Shreyas Iyer OUT as India’s T20 World Cup 2026 SQUAD update ARRIVES

Star India National Cricket Team middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer is seemingly out of the scheme of things for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 despite his heroics in the shorter format of the game.

Shreyas Iyer's recovery has been delayed till January, and this rules out his hopes of a T20I comeback, as in the same month India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad will be announced.

India squad for New Zealand T20Is and T20 World Cup 2026 to be the same

According to a latest report in PTI, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC) will select the same squad for the January T20I series against the New Zealand National Cricket Team and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

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India will be co-hosting the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 alongside Sri Lanka in the February-March window, with 20 teams participating in it, and the competition is likely to start on February 7.

According to rules, the teams need to submit their squads to the ICC a month prior to the commencement of the tournament and are given a leverage to make changes till a specified cut-off date.

India will be hosting New Zealand in a five-match T20I series in January before the T20 World Cup 2026, and with the short turnaround, the same squad that will play the marquee tournament will lock horns with the Kiwis.

One of the biggest reasons being continuity - Source

Speaking to the PTI, a BCCI source said that the selection committee wants to maintain consistency in squad selection.

"With only 10 T20Is left before the T20 World Cup, you won't see many changes happening in the squad proper unless someone is ruled out due to any specific injury," a source privy to development told PTI on condition of anonymity.

"One of the biggest reasons being continuity and the 15 chosen for the series against the Black Caps won't be tinkered with because of the short turnaround time."

Shreyas Iyer’s return to training will only be possible after another two months - Report

Shreyas Iyer suffered a freak injury during the third ODI against Australia while fielding at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He got injured upon impact after he took a catch running backwards from point to dismiss the Alex Carey. Just after grabbing a blinder, he looked in pain and immediately clutched his rib cage and was treated by physios.

He was soon taken to the hospital for further assessment and was later admitted to the ICU. Later, a report revealed that Iyer's injury was more severe than it looked, and things could have gotten worse if he hadn't received adequate treatment on the ground by the BCCI doctors.

Meanwhile, he will only he able to train after a couple more months and will miss competitive cricket action for a while, getting ruled out of the New Zealand ODI series in January.

"Sources close to the development have now revealed more details on Shreyas Iyer’s injury and path to recovery. According to them, Iyer’s return to training will only be possible after another two months. Subsequently, the batter will need another month to regain full fitness," the RevSportz report read.

Don't see Shreyas Iyer return even in the NZ series in January. https://t.co/jUI3h3L8UB

— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) November 21, 2025

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