Chief selector Agarkar, captain Surya explain Gill's absence from India's T20 World Cup squad: ‘Someone has to miss out’

Captain Suryakumar Yadav and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar dropped a bombshell while announcing India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Mumbai on Saturday, with Shubman Gill being left out of the ‘Final 15’ despite being appointed vice-captain in the format recently.

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Gill had been going through a lean patch with the bat in the shortest format, having scored just 291 runs this year at an average and strike rate of 24.25 and 137.26 respectively. In the five-match T20I series against South Africa that concluded in Ahmedabad on Friday, the 26-year-old had lasted just three deliveries in the first two games before producing an unimpressive run-a-ball 28 in Dharamsala.

The selection committee thus took the bold call of leaving him out of the squad with less than two months to go for the 10th edition of ICC’s showpiece T20 event, with senior all-rounder Axar Patel returning to the post of vice-captain.

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‘We still think he’s a quality player’: Agarkar

Speaking to reporters after unveiling the Men in Blue’s T20 World Cup – which will be the same for next month’s T20I series against New Zealand at home – Agarkar explained the reason behind the massive call.

“Your opinion could differ from mine. Sometimes when you pick players, it’s difficult. We still think he’s a quality player. You go through ups and downs with forms, but it’s more about the combinations you want them playing. Someone has to miss out, it’s not because he’s not a good player, and fortunately in Indian cricket we have options,” the former India all-rounder said during the press conference.

“Shubman was the vice-captain, he’s not in the team. Axar was the vice-captain when the T20s used to clash. About continuity, you’re looking at combinations. If your keeper is going to bat at the top, you want a keeper who can play there. Jitesh was there, Shubman is a quality player and unfortunate to miss out. Combinations more than anything else, two keepers at the top. Rinku comes who gives that lower middle order option,” he added.

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SKY emphasises on ‘combinations’ while explaining Gill’s absence

India T20I captain Surya, who is going through a lean patch with the bat himself, added that Gill’s exclusion from the upcoming T20I assignments wasn’t down to his poor form with the bat as it was for the combinations, which the team management intended to perfect in time for their title defence.

“It’s not about his form or anything, it’s just about combinations. We wanted to have a keeper at the top, and someone like Rinku or Washington Sundar in the lower order. It’s important to have a good start in this format. We wanted to win the powerplay, and when we analysed how we could do that, we decided to go ahead with this combination,” Surya added during Saturday’s presser at the Wankhede Stadium.

Besides Gill, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma was also left out of India’s squad for the New Zealand T20Is as well as the T20 World Cup. Rinku Singh, who had been overlooked for the South Africa T20Is recently, was included, while Ishan Kishan – who has not represented the Men in Blue since November 2023 – was rewarded for his red-hot run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with a call-up.