India National Cricket Team head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to react to Shubman Gill’s exclusion from the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad. While Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and chief selector Ajit Agarkar gave different theories, Gautam Gambhir chose to stay silent.

On December 20, the BCCI announced the 15-member squad for both the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 and the five-match T20I series, with the biggest surprise being the omission of Shubman Gill. Once seen as a long-term leader in India’s white-ball setup and named vice-captain on comeback, the 26-year-old has now been dropped entirely from India’s T20I squad.

Gautam Gambhir stays silent amid growing questions on Shubman Gill's snub

However, the string of poor performances with the bat went against the Punjab lad. The decision allowed the selectors to reinstate Sanju Samson as India’s opener, as India is aiming to balance experience, form, and impact roles at the top of the order.

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir has found himself in the spotlight after the selectors’ shocking decision. The Indian head coach stayed completely silent as he encountered a team of journalists at Delhi airport, just hours after the BCCI announced their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad.

Media wanted his reaction on the squad, especially about the shocking omission of Gill, but Gambhir didn’t say a single word at the Delhi airport. The head coach ignored all questions as he walked straight to his car and left without saying a word.

#WATCH | Indian Men's Cricket Team Head Coach Gautam Gambhir arrives in Delhi

BCCI today announced India’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. pic.twitter.com/RbqVtaixyR

— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2025

This kind of reaction from Gambhir has only intensified speculation, as he was not also part of the press conference at the BCCI headquarters where the announcement was made by the secretary, Devajit Saikia, and joined by Suryakumar and Agarkar on Saturday.

Report claims Gautam Gambhir’s hand behind Shubman Gill’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 axing

At the same time, reports suggest that Gautam Gambhir played a key role in Gill’s axing. A former Indian selector has suggested that Gambhir had a strong influence on the decision to leave Gill out of India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad.

The former selector was quoted by PTI as saying, “If making him (Gill) vice-captain for the Asia Cup riding on his England Test heroics was a wrong move, as Sanju (Samson) had done nothing wrong, the move to drop him just five games before the start of the T20 World Cup indicates that it is more of a course correction done by Agarkar's panel. The decision has more footprints of the head coach, who's actually not known for maintaining continuity.”

Shubman Gill’s T20I Struggles

Notably, Gill had made his return to the T20I side during the Asia Cup 2026, where he replaced Sanju Samson as an opener. However, things did not go as planned for him as Gill struggled to find rhythm and consistency. He managed only 291 runs across 15 innings at the strike rate of 137.26. He also failed to score even a single fifty, with his highest score being 47.

Recently, a toe injury ruled him out of the fifth and final T20I against South Africa, and Samson returned to the top and scored a brisk 37 from just 22 balls to help India clinch the series 3-1.