India's Test and ‍One-Day International (ODI) captain ‌Shubman Gill could not find a place in their ⁠15-member squad for next year's ‍home Twenty20 World Cup, but stumper-batter Ishan Kishan returned to the side on Saturday.

pener Gill has gone 18 innings in T20 Internationals without a 50 and ‍missed Friday's match against South Africa with a foot injury.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson has ‍impressed in limited opportunities and made a breezy 37 as Abhishek Sharma's opening partner in the 30-run win over the South Africans in Ahmedabad.

"It's more to do with the combination that we want to play, or what the team management is comfortable with playing," chief selector Ajit Agarkar told reporters in ‌Mumbai.

"We felt the keeper at the top at this point gives us ‍a lot more solidity than anywhere else in the team to play different combinations.

"There are only 15 that we could have picked. Someone has to miss ​out. It's him. It's not because he's not a good player."

Kishan was recalled after he led Jharkhand's successful campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, smashing a hundred ​in Friday's ‍final against Haryana.

The same squad will play a five-match home T20 series ‌against New Zealand next month.

Jasprit Bumrah will lead India's pace attack that also contains left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh.

Varun Chakaravarthy will spearhead the spin department, which also includes left-arm ​wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

‌India will also expect Hardik Pandya, their premier seam-bowling all-rounder, to play a crucial role in their title defence in the tournament.

The 2026 Men's T20 World Cup, to be held from Feb.7 to March 8, will have 40 group matches scheduled to be played till Feb.20.

Top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the Super Eights starting on February 21.

India and Sri Lanka are hosting the Men's T20 World Cup for the second time.

Sri Lanka were the hosts of the 2012 edition, while India last hosted the competition in 2016.

After the completion of the three-match ODI series, India will play five T20Is against New Zealand, starting on January 21 in Nagpur, followed by games in Raipur, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Thiruvananthapuram.

India will open its cup campaign against USA at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Feb.7, before facing Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Feb.12.

India's marquee clash against Pakistan is scheduled for Feb. 15 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, before the side plays their final league stage game against the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Feb.18.

India squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper)

Reuters / IANS