On Saturday, December 20, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, will pick the squad that will look to defend the T20 World Cup title in February-March next year.
At the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, the squads for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, as well as the subsequent World Cup, will be chosen. After a meeting, T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav and Agarkar will address the media in a press conference.
The 2026 T20 World Cup commences
on February 7, and the summit clash will be held on March 8. India and Sri Lanka are the co-hosts of the 20-team tournament. 55 matches are set to be played across five venues in India, and three in Sri Lanka.
The Men in Blue won the title in the previous edition in 2024, as they defeated South Africa in the final under Rohit Sharma's captaincy.
After the triumph, Rohit announced his retirement from the format, and so did Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. Gautam Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as head coach, while Suryakumar took charge as the captain in the shortest format.
Since then, India have not lost a T20I series. They are currently playing a five-match T20I series against South Africa at home. The Asian giants have a 2-1 lead, with the final T20I set to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, December 19.
As far as India's squad for the T20 World Cup is concerned, there shouldn't be too many surprises. However, Shubman Gill's spot in the setup remains doubtful after his performances this year in the format have been underwhelming. Since his return to the T20I side in September during the Asia Cup, the Punjab batter has scored just 291 runs from 15 matches at an average of 24.25 and a strike rate of 137.26. However, he could still make the cut, as the selectors might not want to change their vice-captain in the lead-up to a marquee event like the World Cup.
Shubman was reportedly set to miss the fourth T20I against South Africa due to a foot injury. It will be interesting to see if he has recovered in time and made himself available for the decisive fifth T20I on Friday.
