Fast bowler Mohammed Shami has not been able to make a comeback in the Indian squad selected by BCCI against New Zealand. Former cricketer Irfan Pathan expressed his displeasure on this and raised questions on the working methods of the selection committee. Pathan said that till when will Shami have to prove his fitness and ignoring him is beyond comprehension.

Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana have been selected as fast bowling options in the Indian squad for the next ODI series. Shami has been out of Team India since Champions Trophy 2025, now Irfan Pathan has come out in his support.

Shami’s ability…

Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel, “The center of biggest discussion is Mohammed Shami, what is his future? He is not a name who comes yesterday and goes out after playing a few matches. He has taken 450-500 wickets in international cricket, which is a huge number. If you have taken 400 wickets, get dropped and still questions start being raised on fitness. In the game of cricket, everyone has to prove themselves, but Mohammed Shami’s It is not right to doubt the ability.”

Targeted on selection committee

Irfan Pathan further said that after returning from injury, Mohammed Shami has bowled 200 overs, this many overs are enough to prove his fitness. Pathan said, “What more does he need to prove than this? If Shami still needs to prove his fitness, only the selection committee knows what it is thinking.”

Indian squad for New Zealand ODI series: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (subject to fitness clearance), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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India vs New Zealand ODI series will start from January 11. The Indian squad for this series can be announced on January 11. According to Times of India, Team India’s Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar is going to hold an online meeting for squad selection on January 3. Shubman Gill is going to return for the three ODI series.

Quoting Times of India, a BCCI source said that the selection committee under the leadership of Ajit Agarkar is going to hold an online meeting on January 3, in which the squad for the ODI series will be finalized.

Gill’s return

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be returning in the ODI series, who will be seen in the field for the first time after the South Africa ODI series. Shubman Gill, who missed the series against South Africa due to neck injury, will return to the ODI team as captain against New Zealand. Let us tell you that Gill has been dropped from the Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2026.

Nothing is clear yet about the vice-captain of the ODI team, Shreyas Iyer, because he has not been able to get approval to play again from the BCCI Center of Excellence. He will remain under the observation of the medical team for at least one more week. Iyer may also miss the ODI series.

Hardik-Bumrah rested

In view of the preparations for T20 World Cup 2026, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah may be given rest. Hardik and Bumrah have not even played the last 2 ODI series. The team management wants to give priority to his fitness as the T20 World Cup is approaching.

It will also be interesting to see whether Uttar Pradesh’s in-form batsman Dhruv Jurel gets a chance or not. Jurel has scored 324 runs in four innings of Vijay Hazare Trophy at an excellent average of 108. During this period he has scored one century and two half-centuries.

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The organization of 2026 T20 World Cup is about a month away. The tournament will start from 7th February, while the final match will be played on 8th March. One by one the teams are announcing their World Cup squads. Till now, a total of 5 countries including India and England have declared their squads.

A total of 20 countries will participate in the World Cup, which will be divided into 4 groups of five teams each. The teams finishing in the top-2 of the four groups will enter the Super-8 stage, after which again the eight teams will be divided into 2 groups. The teams finishing in the top 2 of their respective groups in the Super-8 stage will enter the semi-finals. The final of the T20 World Cup will be played on March 8. See here which teams have declared their World Cup squads so far.

Which teams have announced squads so far:

India

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dubey, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakraborty, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

England

Harry Brook (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethel, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tong, Luke Wood.

Sri Lanka (Preliminary Squad)

Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Perera, Dhananjay de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Zenith Liyanage, Charith Asalanka, Kamindu Mendis, Pawan Ratnayake, Sahan Arachige, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellage, Milan Rathnayake, Nuwan Thushara, Ishan Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Pramod Madushan, Mathisha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka, Mahesh Teekshana, Dushan Hemantha, Vijaykant Vyaskant, Travin Mathew

afghanistan

Rashid Khan (captain), Noor Ahmed, Abdullah Ahmedzai, Sediqullah Atal, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Naveen Ul Haq, Mohammad Ishaq, Shahidullah Kamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Umarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Darwish Rasooli, Ibrahim Zadran,

Reserve Players: AM Ghazanfar, Ijaz Ahmadzai and Zia Ur Rehman Sharifi

oman

Jatinder Singh (captain), Vinayak Shukla, Mohammad Nadeem, Shakeel Ahmed, Hammad Mirza, Wasim Ali, Karan Sonawale, Shah Faesal, Nadeem Khan, Sufyan Mahmood, Jai Odedara, Shafiq Jan, Ashish Odedara, Jiten Ramanandi, Hasnain Ali Shah

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In the year 2026, the Indian team will play its first series with New Zealand. New Zealand’s tour of India will run from January 11 to January 31, during which three ODIs and five T20 matches will be played between the two teams. Team India has been announced for the T20 series against New Zealand, but the ODI squad has not been announced yet. Know here which players can get a chance in the ODI squad.

Gil’s back! Jaiswal OUT from playing eleven

ODI team captain Shubman Gill suffered a neck injury in the second Test against South Africa. Due to this reason he could not play the ODI series against South Africa. But now he may return in the series against New Zealand. Gill’s return will directly mean that even if Yashasvi Jaiswal is selected in the squad, he will sit out of the playing eleven, who played an unbeaten 116-run century against South Africa.

It is almost certain that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will play in the series. Both are coming after scoring centuries for their respective teams in Vijay Hazare Trophy. KL Rahul will be the first choice wicketkeeper in the ODI team, while questions have arisen regarding the back-up wicketkeeper. According to media reports, Rishabh Pant will not get a place in the ODI team, Ishan Kishan may be given a chance. BCCI has recently included Kishan in the T20 World Cup squad.

Will Shreyas Iyer be able to make a comeback?

Nothing is clear yet about Shreyas Iyer, his selection in the ODI series against New Zealand will depend on his fitness. Iyer was injured while fielding during the ODI series against Australia. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were rested for the South Africa ODI series, it is reported that they may be rested for the New Zealand series also. The reason for this could be to keep him completely fit for the T20 World Cup.

Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh can also be selected in the squad. Prasidh Krishna took 4 wickets in the last ODI against South Africa, but he proved to be very expensive in the entire series. It will be interesting to see whether Prasidh is able to secure his place or Mohammad Siraj is brought back.

India’s probable squad against New Zealand: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

BCCI has announced the Indian squad for the Under-19 World Cup 2026 and South Africa tour. The team will be captained by Ayush Mhatre, while Vihaan Malhotra will be the vice-captain. Vaibhav Suryavanshi will also be a part of this team. The Under-19 Cricket World Cup will be played in 50-over format, which will be played from 15 January-6 February. Zimbabwe and Namibia are going to host the World Cup together.

Before that, the Indian Under-19 team will tour South Africa, where it has to play 3 ODI matches. This ODI series will be played from January 3-January 7.

Indian squad for Under-19 World Cup: Ayush Mhatre (captain), Vihaan Malhotra (vice-captain), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Aaron George, Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu, Harvansh Singh, RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chauhan, Khilan A Patel, Mohammad Inan, Henil Patel, D Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Uddhav Mohan.

Indian squad for South Africa series: Vaibhav Suryavanshi (captain), Aaron George (vice-captain), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wicketkeeper), Harvansh Singh (wicketkeeper), RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chauhan, Khilan A Patel, Mohammad Inan, Henil Patel, D Deepesh, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan, Yuvraj Gohil, Rahul Kumar

Captain and vice-captain will not play against South Africa

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has also shared information that captain Ayush Mhatre and vice-captain Vihaan Malhotra have suffered wrist injuries, due to which they will not play in the series against South Africa. Before joining the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup team, Ayush Mhatre and Vihaan Malhotra will have to inform BCCI’s Center of Excellence.

News

India’s U19 squad for South Africa tour and ICC Men’s U19 World Cup announced.

Details https://t.co/z21VRlpvjg#U19WorldCup pic.twitter.com/bL8pkT5Ca2

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 27, 2025

India’s schedule for the World Cup

A total of 16 teams will participate in the Under-19 World Cup 2026. India has been placed in Group B along with New Zealand, USA and Bangladesh. Team India will start its World Cup campaign with a match against USA on January 15, its second match will be against Bangladesh on January 17 and India’s last league match will be against New Zealand on January 24.

The Indian team has been announced for the 2026 T20 World Cup, due to which the exclusion of Shubman Gill was much talked about. Now former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has prepared a squad for the T20 World Cup of those players who have not been selected in the original squad of the World Cup. The surprising thing is that Chopra has also kept Shubman Gill out of his 13-member squad. Besides, he has also prepared an alternative playing eleven for the World Cup.

Aakash Chopra handed over the responsibility of opening to Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rituraj Gaikwad. Akash believes that Gaikwad is an excellent batsman, on the other hand, according to him, it is unfortunate that Jaiswal has been dropped from the team despite his explosive batting and being in form. He has also selected KL Rahul, he can also be seen as an opening option.

Shreyas Iyer captain, this batsman in middle order

Aakash Chopra made Shreyas Iyer the captain. He has included 3 wicketkeeper batsmen in his squad in the form of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Jitesh Sharma. Jitesh had made the most of the opportunities he got in the recent T20 series against Australia and South Africa, yet he did not get a place in the actual World Cup squad. Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have been selected as wicketkeepers in the real World Cup squad. He has handed over the role of fast bowling all-rounder to Nitish Kumar Reddy. Krunal Pandya will play the role of spin bowling all-rounder in his team.

Return of veteran among bowlers

In the alternate squad for the T20 World Cup 2026, Aakash Chopra has selected Yuzvendra Chahal as the main spinner, who has not played any international match for Team India after August 2023. Apart from Deepak Chahar and Mohammad Siraj, he has selected Bhuvneshwar Kumar for fast bowling. Kumar has 90 wickets in T20, but he has not played any T20 match for the Indian team after November 2022. At the same time, Mohammed Shami, who is out of Team India, has also been given a place in the team by Aakash Chopra.

Aakash Chopra’s alternate squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rishabh Pant, Jitesh Sharma, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

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On Saturday, December 20, BCCI had announced the Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2026. Shubman Gill’s absence from this squad remains a topic of discussion. On one hand, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar did not give any clear answer. Captain Suryakumar Yadav said that the reason for Gill’s absence was not his form.

A few hours after the announcement of the Indian squad, Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir was seen at the Delhi airport, where he was asked questions by media reporters about the dropping of Shubman Gill. On this Gambhir left from there without replying.

This video has also become the center of discussion on social media. In which it can be seen that some media reporters asked questions to Gambhir, but he left the garden shaking. Gill’s drop is also shocking because Gill had been the vice-captain of the T20 team for the last few months.

Shubhman Gill was last seen playing in the T20 series against South Africa, where he was able to score only 32 runs in 3 innings. Due to injury, he could not play the fourth and fifth T20 matches. However, according to some reports, Gill wanted to play in Ahmedabad. But the team management had already decided to drop him from the squad.

#WATCH Indian Men’s Cricket Team Head Coach Gautam Gambhir arrives in Delhi

BCCI today announced India’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. pic.twitter.com/RbqVtaixyR

— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2025

What did Ajit Agarkar say on Gill?

Team India’s Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar said on the dropping of Shubman Gill, “Shubman Gill was the vice-captain, but is no longer in the team. Earlier, Akshar Patel was the vice-captain of the T20 team. Talking about continuity, you have to keep many combinations in mind. If your wicketkeeper will bat in the top order, Jitesh Sharma was also an option. Shubman Gill is an excellent player, it is unfortunate that he is out.”

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The 2026 T20 World Cup will be organized in the months of February and March. The first match of the World Cup will be played on 7 February and the final will be played on 8 March. India and Sri Lanka are going to host this month-long tournament together. Usually, being the host of a big tournament is beneficial in itself, but there are 3 such records which are presenting such evidence that the Indian team may not be able to win the title of 2026 T20 World Cup.

India will not be able to win the 2026 World Cup, these are 3 reasons

1. No country has won two consecutive World Cups

The first T20 World Cup was played in 2007, till now a total of 6 countries including India and Pakistan have become T20 world champions. India, England and West Indies are the three countries who have achieved the title of being T20 World Champions twice. But none of those teams could lift the trophy in two consecutive World Cup tournaments.

2. The host country has never won

Till now, T20 World Cup has been organized 9 times, but it has never happened when the host country has lifted the T20 World Cup trophy. India had earlier hosted the T20 World Cup in 2016, but Team India was out of the tournament that year after losing in the semi-finals. So far, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, England and Australia have won the T20 World Cup, but none of them have lifted the trophy as hosts.

3. Never defended trophy

The T20 format has got a total of 6 different world champions so far. In 2007, India became the world champion for the first time, but the next year Pakistan became the champion. Pakistan also could not defend its trophy in 2010, because England won the next time. After that West Indies and then Sri Lanka became world champions. Even after that, the same trend has continued that the team which became champion last time, has never been able to defend its tag of being champion.

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India and Sri Lanka are going to host the T20 World Cup 2026 together next year. The World Cup will be played from 7 February to 8 March. A media report has revealed that the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup may be announced in the first week of January. Team India will also be announced for the T20 squad against New Zealand on the same day.

According to a report published in The New Indian Express, the Indian squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup and the T20 series against New Zealand can be announced on the same day. Team India may be announced in the first week of January. According to ICC rules, teams have to announce the squad 30 days before the start of the tournament.

The T20 World Cup will start on 7 February and the final will be played on 8 March. The Indian team is currently busy in the T20 series against South Africa, after which the New Zealand team will tour India for 3 ODIs and five T20 matches. India-New Zealand T20 series will be played from January 21-January 31.

The schedule of T20 World Cup 2026 has been announced, in which a total of 20 teams will participate. India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands and Namibia have been placed in Group A. The Indian team will play its first World Cup match against USA on 7 February.

But before that, the Indian team would like to achieve good momentum by defeating New Zealand in the T20 series. Let us tell you that Team India will enter the World Cup as the defending champion, India had created history by defeating South Africa by 7 runs in the final of the 2024 World Cup.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the Indian squad for the ODI series with South Africa starting from December 30. KL Rahul will be the captain of the team. Regular ODI team captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer will not be part of this series due to injury. Apart from them, there are 5 players who have not got a chance in the upcoming ODI series (India Squad for South Africa ODI Series 2025).

Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami’s name has been in the news for the last several months, who has been dropped in series after series. Shami has not played for Team India after Champions Trophy 2025. Meanwhile, there is a lot of uproar over Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar’s fitness statement. Shami will be seen playing for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament starting from 26th November, but he has once again been disappointed in the context of Team India.

Varun Chakraborty

Varun Chakraborty has said that his bowling action is probably not good for the Test format. But seeing his performance in T20 matches, it is not wrong to expect that the selectors will give him a chance in the ODI team as well. He has taken 43 wickets in 23 matches after returning to the T20 team in 2024, but after the Champions Trophy, he too has not got a chance to come back to the ODI team.

Akshar Patel

Akshar Patel was part of the ODI squad against Australia and played all three matches. Batting in 2 innings of these three matches, he scored 75 runs and took a total of 3 wickets in the series. His sudden drop is really a shocking decision. However, Akshar remains a regular part of the T20 team.

hardik pandya

Hardik Pandya was injured in the Asia Cup 2025, after which he did not even play in the series against Australia. Actually, to return to Team India, he will have to prove his fitness in domestic cricket. He has got a place in Baroda’s squad in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. It is possible that after this domestic tournament, he can play in the T20 series against South Africa, which will start from December 9.

sanju samson

Sanju Samson’s changing batting order in T20 matches is raising questions about his place in the T20 World Cup 2026 team. On the other hand, he has not returned to the ODI team after December 2023.

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