Suryakumar Yadav to lead as BCCI announces strong squad for India's T20 World Cup defence
Team India (Image Source: IG/surya_14kumar)
Published - 20 Dec 2025, 07:48 AM• Read time - 2 mins
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a strong India squad under the leadership of captain Suryakumar Yadav to defend their T20 World title on Saturday, December 20. The same squad will take on New Zealand in the upcoming home series.
The biggest surprise turned out to be the exclusion of Shubman Gill. Gill was named vice-captain during India's Asia Cup campaign in the UAE; however, he never really managed to nail his place in the side. Axar Patel has been announced as Suryakumar's deputy for the ICC event.
A string of underwhelming returns with the bat in hand cost the boy from Fazilka a place in the T20 World Cup squad. Similarly, wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma was also left out as he couldn't deliver a majestic performance while batting to make a strong case for himself.
🚨India’s squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 announced 🚨
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 20, 2025
Let's cheer for the defending champions 💪#TeamIndia | #MenInBlue | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/7CpjGh60vk
In 12 T20I innings, Jitesh has accumulated 162 runs at a strike rate of 151.40, and therefore, he would be hard done by the announcement.
Ishan Kishan's comeback is one of the biggest talking points that have emerged out of the squad announcement for the marquee tournament. Ishan led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali title by beating Haryana in the final. He scored a match-winning century and also finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 517 runs at a strike rate of 197.32, including two hundreds and as many half-centuries.
The selectors have reposed their faith in Rinku Singh's finishing ability after he was left out of India's squad for the home series against the Proteas. Rinku's return is going to add more depth to India's batting prowess. There was no other major surprise as the rest of the squad members have been fairly consistent with their performances.
India's squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Sanju Samson (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh, Ishan Kishan
