The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will pick India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad in the first week of January 2026. According to a report in news agency PTI on Monday (December 15), the BCCI’s
senior men’s selection committee will announce the squad for India’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand and T20 World Cup 2026 on the same date, which is likely to be in the first week of January 2026.
According to the available information, India’s squad for the New Zealand series as well as the T20 World Cup will be the same.
“The squad that will be selected for the New Zealand T20Is will be the same that will be named for the T20 World Cup,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI.
The five-match T20I series against New Zealand will be India’s last international assignment ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, the matches of which will be played from February 7 to March 8 across five venues in India and three in Sri Lanka.
In the T20 World Cup 2026, India will open their campaign on February 7 in Mumbai against the USA and then take on Namibia in their second Group A match at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on February 12. India’s third group match will be played on February 15 at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo against Sri Lanka, and on February 18, the two-time T20 World Cup winners will face the Netherlands at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Surya to lead?
Suryakumar Yadav is the captain of India’s T20I side. He is facing a lot of criticism these days due to his poor form with the bat, but his record as India captain has been exceptional, and it is highly unlikely that the Indian selectors and BCCI will remove him from the leadership responsibilities ahead of the T20 World Cup. The same, however, can’t be said about his deputy, Shubman Gill.
Gill, who is the captain of India’s ODI and Test team, is also struggling to score big runs with the bat in T20Is, and there are a lot of question marks over his place in the side as well. If Gill misses out, then 2024 T20 World Cup winner Yashasvi Jaiswal could replace him in the squad.
