3 players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the T20 World Cup ft. Yashasvi Jaiswal

The BCCI recently announced India's 15-man squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. The marquee ICC tournament will commence in the subcontinent on February 7.

As the holders of the T20 World Cup and the highest-ranked T20I team in the world, India are expected to be the favorites for the title. A large part of their success has been down to the stability in their side, with their core group of players remaining constant across the last two years.

However, the selectors and the team management have made some bold calls while picking their squad for the upcoming tournament. In the process, a few deserving names have been handed the short end of the stick.

India’s squad for the T20 World Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan (wk), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

On that note, here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the T20 World Cup.

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#3 Shubman Gill

India Cricket - Source: Getty

On the basis of performances alone, Shubman Gill clearly didn't deserve to be part of the T20 World Cup squad. A player who has undergone a sustained lean patch in the T20I format, the right-hander was under serious pressure before India finally decided to pull the plug.

However, reports indicate that Gill was not informed of the decision in advance. He was apparently taken aback by the call to drop him and would have even featured in the fifth T20I against South Africa after consuming painkillers had he known that his spot was on the line.

Gill, who was appointed the vice-captain of the shortest format not too long ago, will definitely be feeling hard done by. It must be said that he has only himself to blame as far as his batting is concerned, but the BCCI could have done much better in their planning and preparation for the marquee tournament.

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#2 Yashasvi Jaiswal

Ireland v India - 1st Men's T20 International - Source: Getty

Even though India will head into the T20 World Cup without Shubman Gill at the top of the order, Yashasvi Jaiswal hasn't found a place in the 15-man squad. One of the country's best opening options in the format, the left-hander can consider himself immensely unfortunate to not be part of the setup.

India needed a wicket-keeper at the top of the order, which isn't a skillset Jaiswal provides at the moment. Despite the fact that he has been a reliable performer at the international level, apart from his stellar Indian Premier League performances, he simply hasn't been able to nail down his spot in the T20I team due to a variety of factors.

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#1 Jitesh Sharma

Cricket: Australia v India - 5th T20I - Source: Getty

Just two T20Is ago, Jitesh Sharma seemed to be locked down as India's premier wicket-keeping option. However, he now finds himself out of the T20 World Cup squad, with Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh picked ahead of him.

Jitesh clearly has his weaknesses, as he cannot play hard lengths at a high pace and isn't always reliable. However, since his comeback to the T20I team, he has barely put a foot wrong. Shunted in and out of the team along with Sanju Samson, the dynamic right-hander hasn't been given a sustained run of games to prove his worth.

Jitesh clearly made some improvements to his game during the 2025 Indian Premier League campaign but didn't necessarily get to show those changes at the international level. He has every right to feel like he has been sold down the river by the selectors.

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Edited by Sai Krishna