'Performance Over Pedigree...Bold Move': Netizens Left Stunned Over Shubman Gill's Exclusion From 2026 T20 WC Squad

In a bombshell call, Shubman Gill has been stripped of India’s T20 vice-captaincy and dropped entirely from the 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup starting February 7.

Gill’s fall has been swift. After returning to the T20I setup and being elevated as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy, a poor run of scores — 4, 0 and 28 — saw the BCCI selection committee lose patience. The selectors have now shut the door on the Gill experiment in T20s, at least for the World Cup.

Injuries only worsened his case. Gill suffered a neck sprain during the South Africa Test series that required hospitalisation and ruled him out of the ODIs. Though he returned for the T20Is, another niggle ahead of the fourth match in Lucknow kept him out of the series decider in Ahmedabad

— officially cited as precautionary, but the damage was already done.

The decision triggered a storm online. While some fans were heartbroken to see the 26-year-old miss yet another ICC event, others welcomed the ruthless call, backing performance over reputation. Many hailed the selectors for reverting to a more settled T20 blueprint — Sanju Samson at the top and Rinku Singh as the designated finisher.

Never too late to course correct. Kudos to the Indian selectors for realising that the Gill experiment didn’t work and best to go back to the tried and tested plan of Sanju at top and Rinku as finisher ahead of the all important World Cup.

— Nikhil Naz (@NikhilNaz) December 20, 2025

Bold move to drop Shubman Gill, interesting to see how this plays out.

— Indique (@Indiqueous) December 20, 2025

Wow what a bold decision and for me it’s the best squad selection for Team India for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Shubman Gill is not selected for the world Cup despite being a vice captain in the recent South Africa series.#BCCI #T20WorldCup2026

— Cricket Movie (@DurgeshUpdates) December 20, 2025

Man, gutted to see Shubman Gill not picked for the T20 WC squad 😔
The guy’s pure class – elegant timing, big-game temperament, and he’s been grinding non-stop. One lean patch and they drop him? Feels so harsh.
Hoping he comes back even stronger. #Gill #T20WorldCup2026 pic.twitter.com/7IdwhIFNei

— Prince.D Gill 👑 (@GillFanArmy) December 20, 2025

🚨🚨 Shubman Gill is sacked from vice captaincy as well as dropped from T2OI WC Team right before T2OI WC.

Justice has been done to Indian Cricket & Indian Fans who passionately follow & support Indian Team. We all are now rooting for this team to win the World Cup. Perfecto!!…

— Bakshi (@abisar_bakshi) December 20, 2025

Bold move by the selectors dropping Shubman Gill entirely – performance over pedigree finally! 🔥

Loving the aggressive picks: Abhishek, Ishan back, Rinku, double spinners – this squad looks explosive for home conditions.

SKY to lead us to back-to-back titles? Let’s go defend…

— Jigar B Desai (@JigarBDesaiBjp) December 20, 2025

India, meanwhile, will head into the World Cup with Suryakumar Yadav leading a bold, aggressive squad packed with firepower and spin options — and without one of their most elegant batters.

India’s Squad For The 2026 T20 World Cup:

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.