Why Did Ishan Kishan Replace Jitesh Sharma In India's T20 WC Squad? Agarkar Reveals

Ishan Kishan’s form has been rewarded with a place in India’s men’s 2026 T20 World Cup squad. The Jharkhand skipper replaced Jitesh Sharma in the team only a few weeks before the marquee tournament, with chief

selector Ajit Agarkar explaining that the call was all about ‘team combinations’.

Kishan marked his return to the T20I squad for the first time since late 2023, when he controversially left the team, citing mental fatigue and ended up losing his central contract. He made his return with a fabulous showing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 517 runs in ten matches at a strike-rate of 197.32 as an opener, leading his state to its maiden title in India’s premier domestic T20 competition.

His exploits included a match-winning century in the final against Haryana.

“He bats at the top in white-ball cricket, and he’s been in good form,” Agarkar said at the press conference announcing the squad. “He played before for India. He wasn’t in the Indian team because there is a Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant ahead of him. We felt a ‘keeper at the top gives us more solidity.”

Kishan’s inclusion is connected to Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson. Gill was made the vice-captain and appointed the opener for the Asia Cup, replacing Samson as Abhishek Sharma’s partner.

Samson was shifted to the middle-order. But neither change worked out.

Samson was first replaced with Jitesh, who’s more comfortable in the finisher role. Now, after a poor run for Gill, the team has gone back to Samson as the opener.

Hence, the backup wicketkeeper needed to be someone who could directly replace Samson as the opener. With Jitesh in the team, if Samson were to lose form, India would have been required to make two changes — one at the top of the order and one to make room for Jitesh in the middle-order.

“If your ‘keeper is going to bat at the top, our thought was to have another ‘keeper, just in case there’s a problem. There was Jitesh, who again hasn’t done too much wrong, [the same as] Shubman… it’s about the combinations, more than anything,” Agarkar said.

India’s Squad For 2026 T20 World Cup and the IND-NZ Series: 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.