BCCI selection committee committee led by Ajit Agarkar announced India's squad for the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup on Saturday, 20 December at the BCCI's headquarters in Mumbai. Shubman Gill has been left out of India’s T20 World Cup squad in a major selection call announced by the selectors. Axar Patel has been elevated to vice-captain. Ishan Kishan has been added as the second wicketkeeper, with Jitesh Sharma missing out.

India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav expressed satisfaction with the squad announced for the home T20 World Cup, saying it looks balanced and has all bases covered. SKY added that the selectors have filled every spot well, allowing different combinations to be tried if needed. India will be aiming to become the first team to successfully defend a men’s T20 World Cup title as they prepare for the home tournament.

India Squad for T20 World Cup

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wk).

India will begin their campaign against USA on 7 February in Mumbai and are scheduled to face arch-rivals and former champions Pakistan in Colombo on 15 February.

Here’s India’s schedule for the group stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup: 

7 February – vs USA in Mumbai

12 February – vs Namibia in Delhi

15 February – vs Pakistan in Colombo (R Premadasa Stadium)

18 February – vs Netherlands in Ahmedabad.

India are placed in Group A along with arch-rivals Pakistan as well as USA, Netherlands and Namibia. India and Pakistan have been placed in the same group in ICC as well as ACC overs for more than a decade now, and the 10th edition of the T20 World Cup is no different.