The Indian cricket team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 was announced Saturday at the head office of BCCI in Mumbai. The squad consists of 15 members to represent India in the global event and T20I series against New Zealand in January, announced by captain Suryakumar Yadav with chief selector Ajit Agarkar. The announcement at 1:30 PM IST ended up starting some 35 minutes late, as Suryakumar Yadav reached the venue a bit late because he was earlier during the day busy in Ahmedabad for the final T20I against South Africa. India will begin its World Cup Campaign against the USA in Mumbai on February 7. They have been drawn in Group A along with Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan, and the USA. Also Read | Records Broken by Indian Batters in the 5th T20I vs South Africa India Squad for T20 World Cup 2026 Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan 🚨India’s squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 announced 🚨Let's cheer for the defending champions 💪#TeamIndia | #MenInBlue | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/7CpjGh60vk — BCCI (@BCCI) December 20, 2025 Shubman Gill Excluded After Poor Run One of the most hotly debated issues concerning this squad announcement was Shubman Gill's exclusion from the squad. The classy top-order batter has not been performing at his best in recent T20 outings. Because of that, he was not selected to go to the World Cup. Gill has been under pressure for a while, and his outings in the recent series against South Africa haven't helped him either. With the opening purse now more crowded than ever, India decided to go with the in-form players for this one. Also Read | How Quinton de Kock’s Return Boosts Mumbai Indians for IPL 2026 Ishan Kishan Gets in, but Jitesh Sharma Misses Out While Gill and Jitesh Sharma missed the cut, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan bounced back into the squad with a convincing argument. He is currently enjoying excellent form and scored a century in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025. He counterbalances others with his ability to bat up top and in the middle-order. The selectors also said that Kishan's present form made him a safer option than Jitesh Sharma, who had had an inconsistent run. Rinku Singh Included as a Finisher Rinku Singh's inclusion is the result of his ability to finish the game and that too with the solid consistency over the performances and added on to that adaptive characteristic, which will be an important part in the lower order. Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the pace unit along with Varun, Washington, and Axar Patel for spin. India's bowling pack displays a combination of pace and spin.