He has not scored a fifty since his T20I comeback in the Asia Cup 2025.
Former India batter Robin Uthappa gave an interesting reason for the snub of Shubman Gill from the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. He linked it to the lean patch of the captain, Suryakumar Yadav, with the willow.
During a YouTube live session with cricket analyst and journalist Jarrod Kimber, the T20 World Cup 2007 winner mentioned that teams cannot afford to take more than one out-of-form player to an ICC tournament. Uthappa proposed that the exclusion of Gill was influenced by struggles of Suryakumar with the bat in the calendar year.
“With World Cup sides, you can carry up to one player who’s not in great form; you can’t carry more than that. That’s probably it (he’s been dropped because SKY is not making runs),” Uthappa quipped.
Uthappa also talked about Gill’s recent performance during India’s home T20I series against South Africa earlier this month. The former batter observed that Gill appeared confused and struggled against pacer Lungi Ngidi, who consistently exploited his weakness outside the off stump.
“I am not saying he [Shubman Gill] deserved to be there, given his current form. It feels like there’s a lot of confusion, even when he’s batting. He’s getting some good deliveries. Lungi bowled really well through the series and troubled him,” added Uthappa.
Shubman Gill returned to the India T20I squad ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 and was named vice-captain. His return forced team management to make some changes to their lineup, as Gill replaced Sanju Samson as an opener, while the latter moved to the middle order before getting dropped. However, the 25-year-old failed to make it memorable, managing 291 runs in 15 T20Is with an average of 24.25 and a strike rate of 137.26. He did not reach the 50-run mark even once. To make matters worse, Gill hit only four sixes, showing his poor form.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav performed even worse, scoring only 218 runs in his last 19 innings. His average was 13.62, and his strike rate was 123.16, with no half-centuries. But India have emerged as a dominant force in the format under his leadership post the T20 World Cup 2024. They have won 22 of their 27 matches and have not lost any series, including the Asia Cup 2025.
And changing a captain with an ICC tournament just a few days away doesn’t even make sense. Plus, Suryakumar Yadav’s ability to dismantle any bowling lineup while providing flexibility in the middle-order will allow India to continue their dominance and potentially defend the title.
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The former India opener said he was surprised by the absence of Shubman Gill when the T20 World Cup 2026 squad was revealed. However, he felt India still had a strong team capable of defending the title.
“I was shocked but really happy. They picked a really solid side. But the way they’ve gone about it, and for me, it’s not dropping people; it’s about how you go about making these decisions,” he concluded.
Apart from Gill, wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma was another significant omission, while Rinku Singh and Ishan Kishan returned to the squad after some time away. While Rinku was still in and out of the India squad over the last 18 months, Kishan had last played in November 2024 last year and made a comeback via outstanding Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) outings, both as a batter and a captain.
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