The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the team for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand and the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team in the global tournament, with the selectors not adding any surprising names. The ICC rule allows the countries to make changes before the global tournament starts in India and Sri Lanka.
The biggest surprise came in the form of Shubman Gill, who was dropped from the team after failing to score runs since returning to the T20I team from the Asia Cup 2025. He was ordinary in Australia and against South Africa. Axar Patel has been appointed Team India’s new vice-captain in the shortest format of the game.
Ishan Kishan has been brought back into the national team after a long absence. He led Jharkhand to success in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and led the scoring charts as well. Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector, opined on Gill’s snub, calling it unfortunate, but highlighted his struggles in recent times.
Rinku Singh also made a comeback after his omission for the South Africa series.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar revealed that the team management will have a sable playing XI in the five matches against New Zealand in order to give game time to the players before the World Cup starts in February. The BCCI refused to name any standbys for the competition, considering the matches will be played in India, and in case of an injury, the replacement player will join the squad at the earliest.
India squad for New Zealand series and ICC T20 World Cup 2026
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh