Three months later, that confidence was gone. Gill finished 2025 without scoring a single half-century. He averaged only 24.25 and had a strike rate of 137.26. In his last innings at Dharamshala, he scored 28 runs from 28 balls. What many hoped would be Gill’s era across all formats ended in disappointment, especially for his fans. More than Gill, it was the failure of the decision makers. India’s fascination with forcing a player to play all formats had another victim. As Gill kept switching forms and taking up more responsibilities, he buckled. First, he lost his fitness and then his form. Gill did not fit into the T20I side. He could not follow the template set by Abhishek Sharma. But he was forced into that team not just as a player but also as the vice-captain.
India T20 World Cup 2026 Squad: Why Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma Missed Out
During his 30 months as chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar has made many bold decisions. He led the change in the Test team by moving on from senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and later made Shubman Gill the ODI captain. So, it’s clear he is not afraid to take tough calls.
On Saturday, Agarkar made another big decision. He dropped T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill from India’s T20 World Cup squad just five matches before the tournament. He also left out Jitesh Sharma and selected the in-form Ishan Kishan instead, bringing Kishan back after being out of the team for two years.
“From the start of the series, we wanted to stick to a particular brand of cricket and we did exactly that. We didn’t try to do anything different. We wanted to express ourselves in all departments and the results are right there in front of everyone. This is something we felt was missing in our last few series. This is exactly how we wanted to bat. Once someone gets going, they don’t stop. We wanted that relentless intent, and today it worked beautifully,” Suryakumar Yadav said.
With Gill struggling to give India those flying starts, the onus remained on Tilak Varma, especially with Suryakumar himself out of form. Since Gill’s sudden return to the T20I side for Asia Cup 2025, Samson had to negotiate for a spot in the middle-order. And he could not succeed. In his place, Jitesh Sharma was brought in. However, by dropping Shubman Gill, Ajit Agarkar chose to course-correct 49 days before the T20 World Cup.
Before the Asia Cup 2025, Agarkar was bullish when he announced Gill as the vice-captain. He sounded as if Gill sacrificed the spot for Samson and for the Asia Cup, and he deservedly came back. To make him immune, Gill was also named the vice-captain. There were reasons, though. Gill surpassed all the expectations in England, smashing over 700 runs in five Tests as India almost won the series. He was the man in a dream form.
India T20 World Cup 2026 squad: 3 star players left out, reasons explained
“We’re looking at continuity; we want a keeper batting at the top. We know what a quality player Shubman is, even though he’s not found runs recently. It’s the combination more than anything else. Some people are going to miss out on a particular format because they are playing in another. Let’s not make much of it. Over the last few years, Gill has been the No.1 batter in the world. He knows what he has to do, he knows what’s needed, and hopefully by the time the WC comes by, he’ll be back to being No.1,” Agarkar said.
Because Team India chose to back Shubman Gill, they had to make some changes. They needed a No. 7 wicketkeeper-batter as a backup in case Sanju Samson did not perform well in the middle order. That situation eventually happened. Samson finished 2025 with only one half-century, which came against Oman, and it was a slow innings while batting at No. 3. At No 5, he played three innings, scoring 13, 39 and 24. In some games, he did not even get to bat.
Against Bangladesh, the team management showed no confidence in him to bat in the middle order as he was frozen on the bench. During that time, Jitesh Sharma emerged as a realistic option to adjust with Gill as the opener. Jitesh could play the finisher’s role, score some quick runs. He did start well, scoring 22 off 13 against Australia and then 27 off 17 against South Africa in Mullanpur.
But on Saturday, he was dropped from the team for the T20 World Cup. With Gill exiting the team and Samson returning to the opening spot, Jitesh was suddenly an unwanted man. Jitesh did not fail, nor did he make any mistakes. He became another victim of the BCCI selection committee’s poor planning, just like Rinku Singh.
