India vice-captain Shubman Gill has been left out of their T20 World Cup squad, with Axar Patel filling his leadership role.

Gill scored just 291 runs in his 15 T20Is in 2025 – it is the most matches he has played in the format in a single calendar year, but only his second-highest scoring total.

He missed Friday's 30-run win over South Africa, which secured India a 3-1 series win over the Proteas, due to a foot injury.

Though the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said Gill's condition was "improving" ahead of that match, he will not feature at the World Cup in February and March.

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who recently topped the charts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 517 runs, replaces Gill in the top order. Abhishek Sharma is the other opener.

As such, Rinku Singh has also been added to the squad, making a return to the T20I side, but Jitesh Sharma, who has been the first-choice wicketkeeper in recent times, misses out, along with Gill.

India’s squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 announced

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— BCCI (@BCCI) December 20, 2025

"It's more to do with the combinations that we want to play, or what the team management is comfortable with playing," chair of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, said.

"Their thoughts are... who's going to bat at the top? Abhishek, obviously, has done what he has done over the last year.

"And we felt the keeper at the top, at this point, gives us a lot more solidity than anywhere else in the team to play different combinations.

"There are only 15 that we could have picked. Someone has to miss out. It's him. It's not because he's not a good player. Again, Jitesh hasn't done too much wrong. These are the combinations that the team management is looking for."

The same squad will also play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which begins on January 21, with India's World Cup title defence beginning against the United States on February 7.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Axar Patel (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan.