Two big questions ahead of India’s squad selection for T20 World Cup with the squad to be announced tomorrow.
There isn’t much room to tinker with the squad, but two vexing questions will be on the minds of the selectors.
On Saturday in Mumbai, India’s selectors will announce the team for the T20 World Cup. The same team will probably play in the five home Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand beginning on January 21. There will be several factors to think about, even though the choice is anticipated to be very simple.
The inevitable Gill dilemma
Shubman Gill has gone 18 innings without a half-century, therefore his recent T20I returns ought to have come under closer examination. It wouldn’t appear much better even if the focus switched from just numbers to his impact at the top.
There haven’t been many innings like the game-winning 28-ball 47 against Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup in September—his comeback series. With one game remaining in the current T20I series against South Africa, he has scores of 4, 0, and 28.
Nevertheless, Gill is still seen from a longer-term perspective.
With the T20 World Cup little over a month away, he now serves as India’s T20I vice-captain and enjoys a level of security that implies his position is unlikely to be significantly reviewed.
If India had already used up all of their allotted games before the World Cup, the decision might have been more difficult. Rather, before India’s tournament opening match against the USA on February 7 in Mumbai, five Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand provide Gill with a crucial opportunity to regain rhythm.
The Washington-Rinku tug-of-war
Rinku Singh was selected by India over Washington Sundar for the 15-man team in the Asia Cup, and he made the most of his one opportunity by scoring the winning runs against Pakistan in the final. In Australia, the situation changed since Hardik Pandya’s quadriceps injury made space for both players. But now that Hardik is fit again, the balance has shifted back in Washington’s favour in the continuing Twenty20 Internationals.
Gautam Gambhir’s penchant for all-rounders over specialists, particularly in the middle order, has been evident since he took over as head coach in July 2024.
Washington’s extra value as an offspinner bolsters his case as the middle-order backup, pushing Rinku back to the sidelines for a second consecutive T20 World Cup cycle despite the fact that he hasn’t done much wrong. Shivam Dube is essentially locked in as a like-for-like cover for the injury-prone Hardik.