In a significant move, the national selection committee on Saturday excluded struggling vice-captain Shubman Gill from the 15-member India team announced for the home T20 World Cup.
Multi-talented Axar Patel was named vice-captain, while the in-form Ishan Kishan secured a recall, surpassing Jitesh Sharma as the second wicketkeeper after Sanju Samson.
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar admitted that Gill’s exclusion was because of his insufficient runs.
Shubman Gill Omitted Due to Lack of Runs
“Clearly he (Gill) has struggled for runs, and since he wasn’t selected, we required a vice-captain,” Agarkar mentioned at the press conference.
Rinku Singh, a member of India’s Asia Cup-winning team previously, rejoined the squad as the assigned finisher, taking Jitesh’s place. Ishan, besides serving as the backup wicketkeeper, has been designated as the reserve opener.
Full squad:
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rinku Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk)