India Confirm Squad For New Zealand T20I Series: Ishan Kishan And Rinku Singh Back But Shubman Gill Dropped

India have announced their squad for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand in January next year. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the squad and, in a significant decision, the selectors have dropped Shubman Gill after an unremarkable run. Ishan Kishan has been recalled after nearly two years, while Rinku Singh is also back after being dropped for the recent five-match T20I series against South Africa at home.

The same squad has also been picked for India’s title defence at the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup.

There have been five major changes from the T20I squad that was picked for the recent South Africa bilateral series at home. Gill has lost his place and the vice-captaincy, with Axar Patel being reappointed Suryakumar’s deputy.

Gill had made his

T20I return as vice-captain earlier this year during the Asia Cup. He also replaced Sanju Samson as the opener, despite the latter finishing 2024 as India’s top run-getter in T20Is.

Gill had only scored 291 runs from 15 innings since making his India T20I return.

Additionally, India have also dropped wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma and recalled the in-form Ishan Kishan, who scored over 500 runs in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy while captaining Jharkhand to a maiden title triumph.

Also making his return is Rinku Singh, who was not picked for the South Africa T20Is despite being part of India’s title-winning Asia Cup squad. He hit the winning boundary in the final against Pakistan.

The five-match series with New Zealand will be held from January 21 to January 31.

Samson will return to partner Abhishek at the top of the batting order with Tilak Varma,

India’s full squad for New Zealand T20I series in 2026: Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Axar Patel (vice-captain) Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh (wicketkeeper)