BCCI's Men's Selection Committee recently announced the 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, and surely it had many surprises up its sleeves. Here is an attempt to analyze and decode what propelled the Indian selectors to make the selections, which included a massive, tough call.

After the Indian team for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup was announced, several shocking selections were questioned by many cricket experts as well as cricket enthusiasts in India. However, the selectors seemed to have answered all the queries based on their understanding.

After witnessing the final squad released by the BCCI, here is a detailed decoding of the strategies and the plans that the BCCI selectors implemented in order to pick the best possible side for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.

What categories did the BCCI Selectors prioritize for India's Men's T20 World Cup selections?

One of the biggest priorities for the selection of the Indian team has been the recent form of the cricketers, leaving out skipper Suryakumar Yadav as an exception. Every player who has been picked has shown some promising form in recent times.

The selection of players like Harshit Rana over other experienced pacers like Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Shami, or even Prasidh Krishna is purely based on recent form. Hardik Pandya, who was absent from T20Is and returned to show some promising form, was also picked under the same category.

From the batting point of view, India has gone with players who can execute their strategy of scoring quickly since ball one. Though arguably Yashasvi Jaiswal could have been a part of the XI, Rinku Singh seemingly could add a possible batting option to the lower order and could be promoted at times. Hence, Rinku's flexibility pushed him ahead of the opener.

The team looks decked out with clean strikers of the ball and players who can add a pile of runs quickly in the innings. The Indian selectors have prioritized flexibility over experience, and hence, they sidelined the likes of Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj from the team.

BCCI selectors did not fear backlash for axing Shubman Gill

This time, the BCCI selectors looked determined on their plans and did not back off from executing them, as they boldly snubbed Shubman Gill from the World Cup squad, despite him being the face of Indian cricket in recent times.

Shubman Gill's axing would lead to wide-scale backlash from several Indian greats as well as several fanatics who admire Shubman Gill as a cricketer. They were also aware that many would reason that Shubman is a class player, and for players like him, 'form is temporary, while class is permanent.'

Despite all, the Indian Men's Selection Committee chief, Ajit Agarkar, took the bold decision and announced that Gill has been snubbed since he does not fit in the combination within the Indian team.

Indian selectors prioritized combination, as they boldly backed Ishan Kishan's comeback

From the BCCI Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar's words, this was clear that the BCCI was prioritizing the formation of a strong combination of players. Ishan Kishan's form might have been a factor that brought him to the attention of the selectors, but his selection was based on many other factors.

Kishan is a wicket-keeper batter and could replace Sanju Samson both as a gloveman and as an opener if he is ruled out with some injury or a niggle. The same applies to batters like Tilak Varma, whom he can replace in the middle order.

Flexibility added along with his red-hot form, and Ishan Kishan perfectly fitting into the Indian combination was what led to his selection. At times, if Gautam Gambhir had to make a tough call against captain Suryakumar Yadav, Kishan would be a beneficial asset to replace him as well.