Overview:
Shubman Gill was missing from India’s T20I plans for almost a year before the Asia Cup 2025, a phase during which Sanju Samson made a strong mark as an opener, smashing three centuries in the shortest format.
India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad announcement delivered its biggest shock when Shubman Gill was surprisingly left out of the team. The 26-year-old has been unable to find consistency since his return to T20Is, and that slump has eventually cost him both the vice-captain role and a place in the team for the marquee event. The decision also hints at a tactical rethink from the BCCI, with Sanju Samson reinstated as an opener after earlier losing the position to accommodate Gill.
At the same time, many reports suggest that head coach Gautam Gambhir had a significant influence on this sudden selection shift.
A PTI report has revealed that a former national selector believes Gautam Gambhir played a big role in the decision to leave Shubman Gill out of India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad.
“If appointing Gill as vice-captain for the Asia Cup based on his England Test success was a mistake, considering Sanju Samson hadn’t done anything to deserve losing his place, then dropping Gill barely five matches before the T20 World Cup seems more like a corrective step taken by Agarkar’s selection panel, “the former selector told PTI.
“The call seems to carry a stronger influence from the head coach, who doesn’t exactly have a reputation for sticking with continuity,” the former selector added.
Shubman Gill was missing from India’s T20I plans for almost a year before the Asia Cup 2025, a phase during which Sanju Samson made a strong mark as an opener, smashing three centuries in the shortest format.
But after Gill was brought back into the side and then appointed vice-captain, Sanju Samson had to relinquish his opening role, which eventually resulted in him being left out of the playing XI.
Gill, however, went through the entire phase without scoring a single half-century, failing to cross the fifty mark in any of his 15 T20I matches from the Asia Cup up to the South Africa series.