Shubman Gill retained, Rinku Singh axed as India T20 World Cup squad announced by....
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India vice-captain Shubman Gill has been named in the final squad for the ICC T20 World Cup by former Indian batter Aakash Chopra. The former batter has, however, snubbed Rinku Singh, the promising Indian batter, from his maiden World Cup call.
India will advance to the next T20 World Cup under their captain, Suryakumar Yadav, who has been a highly successful leader since the Men in Blue won the previous World Cup in 2024. Under his leadership, India have not lost a series yet and has lost just 6 T20I games.
The defending champions will be entering the T20 World Cup arena at their home ground, as India is the official host of the competition. Shubman Gill was named as the vice-captain of the Indian squad ahead of the Asia Cup.
Shubman Gill has been named in India's ICC T20 World Cup squad
Indian opener Shubman Gill was appointed the captain of the Test side following his splendid performance in the India tour of England. He was announced as the vice-captain of the T20I squad and was also backed as an opener in the format.
Previously, Shubman Gill was not even handed a place in the playing XI since the T20 World Cup 2024, as Sanju Samson took his place as an opener alongside Abhishek Sharma. Samson played relatively well, securing his spot for 2024 with 3 hundreds in a calendar year.
However, ever since his return, Shubman Gill has seriously lacked form, as he has averaged only 20 in the 15 games he has played for India and is yet to get a half-century in the format over this time span. Despite immense criticism for the Indian batter, former Indian batter Aakash Chopra has named him in his squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
Rinku Singh snubbed from the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad
India considered handing opportunities to Indian batters down the order. Rinku Singh was one of the most talented Indian batters who was drafted into the Indian team for the shortest format of the game.
Rinku got the opportunity following his splendid show in the 2023 IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders. He then also fired for India down the order, against the Australians and many other teams.
However, considering Gautam Gambhir's favouritism for all-rounders, Rinku Singh was dropped from the Indian team. He was dropped from the Indian team for the South Africa series, and even Aakash Chopra doesn't fit him in his ICC T20 World Cup squad.
Aakash Chopra's India squad for T20 World Cup: Shubhman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakraborty, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Harshit Rana.
Gill was snubbed from the last two games of the South Africa T20I series
Shubman Gill has failed to perform well in the series against South Africa. In three matches, the batter has scored just 32 runs at a very low strike rate and has failed to impress the Indian fans.
Shubman Gill has now been ruled out of the remaining two matches in the series, with a toe injury. The batter is likely to be replaced by Sanju Samson, who has been benched in over 6 games and is finally looking forward to making a return to the Indian XI.
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