The Indian team for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has been announced and Shubman Gill has been dropped. Ishan Kishan has returned to the team in his place. Now the biggest question is why such a big change happened before such a big tournament?
These can be some reasons behind dropping Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill scored his last T20I half-century against Zimbabwe in Harare on July 13, 2024. Since then, he has played 18 matches for the Indian team but failed to score a single half-century. During this period, India won the Asia Cup and did not lose any bilateral T20I series, but Shubman Gill’s form did not return. He kept yearning for a half-century.
He crossed all limits in the T20I series against South Africa. Shubman Gill, who failed to reach double figures in the first two matches, could only manage 28 runs off 28 balls in the third T20I. After this, he was ruled out of the fourth match citing a leg injury.
Ishan Kishan’s form has overshadowed Shubman’s. Overall, Shubman Gill averages 28 and has a strike rate of 138 in T20Is. His recent strike rate has been 193, and his average in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was 57. This is why Shubman Gill was dropped from the team and Ishan Kishan was given a chance. Kishan last played a T20I for the Indian team in 2023. Since then, he has been dropped from Team India. He has scored 796 runs in 32 matches for India at an average of 25. His strike rate is 124, which is considered quite poor overall.
But in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Ishan Kishan amassed 516 runs at a strike rate of 193. He smashed 33 sixes, breaking MS Dhoni’s record for most sixes in a single tournament. Kishan is one of the few Indian batsmen to score five centuries in the T20 format. Therefore, it didn’t take long for the selectors to retain Ishan Kishan and drop Shubman Gill.