No Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer Captain: India's Strongest Playing XI Of Ignored Players For 2026 T20 World Cup
Shubman Gill missed out on making it to the 2026 T20 World Cup team. His below-par performances resulted in him losing his spot. Apart from Gill, Jitesh Sharma was also dropped from the World Cup squad. He was replaced by Ishan Kishan.
The Ajit Agarkar-headed selection committee on Saturday (December 20) announced the 15-member squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. The selection committee made a bold call to drop vice-captain Shubman Gill. The India opener looked set to open the innings with Abhishek Sharma in the upcoming ICC event. But the selectors dropped him following his struggles in the shortest format. Sanju Samson will open the innings in the T20 World Cup. Apart from Gill, the selectors also dropped Jitesh Sharma. Jites was playing ahead of Samson in the middle-order. Samson only played the fifth T20I against SA after an injury to Gill.
Since India need a backup opener for Samson, they dropped Jitesh and brought back Ishan Kishan. Kishan enjoyed a purple patch in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and captained Jharkhand to a title win.
Apart from Gill and Jitesh, there were many more players who were ignored for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Here, we make the strongest playing XI of the ignored players for the 2026 T20 World Cup -
Openers
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan are two openers in the strongest playing XI of ignored players for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Jaiswal lost his spot after being rested for the England series earlier in 2025. He is expected to make his T20I comeback in 2026.
Sudharsan has pipped Shubman Gill for a place in this squad. The left-handed batsman hasn't been rewarded for winning the Orange Cap in IPL 2025. Opening the innings with Gill for Gujarat Titans, Sudharsan slammed 759 runs in 15 innings.
Middle-order
Shreyas Iyer will captain this team and bat at number 3. The right-handed batsman isn't in the scheme of things in T20Is but he could make a return after the World Cup. Iyer could also be considered for captaincy if Suryakumar Yadav steps down. Iyer has proven his credentials in IPL as a captain and as a batsman in IPL.
Rajat Patidar will bat at number 4. He has yet to play a T20I for the Men in Blue. Rajat captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their maiden IPL title win in 2025. Shashank Singh can be the finisher of this team. He has done well in IPL and can also shine for Team India if given a chance.
Jitesh will keep wickets for this team. The wicketkeeper-batsman deserved a place in the WC squad but Gill's struggles resulted in him also losing his spot.
All-rounders
Krunal Pandya has been out of Team India for a few years now but he deserves a recall. Playing for RCB in IPL 2025, Krunal scalped 17 wickets in 15 matches. He bowled a Player of the Final spell in the summit clash and only spent 17 runs for two wickets in his four overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy is the second all-rounder in this team.
Bowlers
Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj are three pacers in this team. Krishna shone in IPL 2025 and won the Purple Cap for scalping 25 wickets. Siraj was a member of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning team. Shardul is known for breaking partnership and he can chip in with crucial runs when needed.
India's strongest playing XI of players ignored for 2026 T20 World Cup: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Krunal Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj
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