THE squad named by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup 2026 has a notable omission. India’s Test and One-Day captain Shubman Gill has not been included for the tournament leaving too big a room for doubts and debates. The selectors have blamed it on Gill’s bad batting form in T20s while expressing regret that he would miss out on another T20 World Cup on trot. It is at the most a feeble excuse, for, the reason brings more questions on the perplexing decision. Gill’s surprise exclusion is quite bewildering given the fact that he was drafted into the Asia Cup T20 team in August as the vice-captain. It might have been a decision influenced by emotions as Gill had done splendidly well as Test captain in the series against England.

 

That call by the selectors, too, had been accepted with a surprise. While many looked at it as a larger view of making him familiar to lead in all formats, there was a danger of upsetting the T20 team’s combination under skipper Surya Kumar Yadav. The disturbance seems to have been acknowledged by the selectors while excluding Gill from the World Cup-bound team. The 26-year-old’s absence underlines the change in team management’s thinking on the approach needed for the World Cup. The Gill experiment has clearly failed as he could not settle in the given slot ever since the Asia Cup. His exclusion is being attributed to the chop-and-change policy of coach Gautam Gambhir. The head coach has a habit of changing combinations at the drop of hat. It was evident in the Test series against England and also against the home series loss to South Africa. A similar approach seems on card for the T20 World Cup. The captain and coach must have gone back to the horses-for-courses theory where current form is taken into consideration while filling the team sheet. But then by that standards even captain Surya Kumar Yadav should have been left out of the team.

 

The Mumbai batsman, a T20 specialist, has had a lean run for too long. Compared to the numbers stacked by Gill and Yadav, the latter has a bad record than the Test captain in T20. Yet, axe has fallen on Gill. The decision totally defies logic as a player of Gill’s calibre should also have been extended the long rope being given to many other senior players in various formats of the game. If dropping Gill from a marquee event is course-correction by the team management as well as BCCI, then it has come at a wrong time. This decision can potentially trigger misunderstanding between senior players. In the focus will be Surya Kumar Yadav and coach Gambhir, for, their input must have weighed on the selectors’ decision. Whether Gill was communicated ahead of the call is also a serious matter. In absence of clear communication, there might be an unhealthy and heavy air in the dressing room.