The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 will be held in India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March. For this, BCCI has announced the Indian team. Under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, the places of 15 players have been confirmed, but the board can still make changes in it. Know as per ICC rules, when do all the teams have to announce their squad and what is the last date for changes in it?

A total of 20 teams will participate in the T20 World Cup 2026, among which there will be 55 matches. 14 matches including India vs Pakistan match will be held in Sri Lanka. If Pakistan reaches the semi-finals then this match will also be held in Sri Lanka, and if it reaches the finals then the title match will also be held in Sri Lanka.

Team of 7 countries announced for T20 World Cup

There is only Indian cricket team in Group A, whose T20 World Cup squad has been announced. Apart from this, the squads of Australia, Sri Lanka, Oman, England, South Africa and Afghanistan have been announced.

The squads of America, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Ireland, West Indies, Bangladesh, Italy, Nepal, UAE, Canada and New Zealand are yet to be announced.

Last date for squad announcement of T20 World Cup 2026?

All the countries participating in the T20 World Cup 2026 have to submit the list of 15 players included in their provisional squad to the ICC by January 8.

When can change happen?

The organization of T20 World Cup 2026 will start from 7 February. All countries can make changes in their World Cup team till a week before this. ICC has fixed the last date as 31 January.

However, there can be a change in the squad even in the middle of T20 World Cup 2026, but only if a player gets injured. Then changes can happen only after the permission of ICC.

t20 world cup 2026 format

20 teams are divided into groups of 5 each, there are total 4 groups. India and Pakistan are in Group A. First there will be a group stage, after which the top 2 teams of each group will advance to the next round (Super 8). After this there will be a knockout stage.

Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya will not play in India’s next ODI series, which starts from January 11. On the India tour, the New Zealand team will play a 5-match T20 series after the 3-match ODI series, which will be the last opportunity to test the preparations for the T20 World Cup 2026.

According to the report of Cricbuzz, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya will be rested in the 3-match ODI series against New Zealand. Both will return in the upcoming 5 T20 match series, for which BCCI has announced the team.

Keep a close eye on Bumrah’s workload

Jasprit Bumrah has not played any ODI for India since the 2023 World Cup. According to the report, the fast bowler’s workload is being closely monitored. The next main target of BCCI is the T20 World Cup, which is to be held in India and Sri Lanka between February 7 and 8.

Resting Jasprit Bumrah from the ODI series against New Zealand means that the board does not want Bumrah to be given the load in matches which are not very important. Especially when the T20 World Cup 2026 will start within 10 days of the 5-match T20 series.

The board does not want to give load to Hardik also

Hardik Pandya has been the main player of the team for some time as an all-rounder, who is performing brilliantly with bat and ball. He can bowl in powerplay and death overs. Although he has not played any ODI since the Champions Trophy, his exclusion was due to fitness reasons. In such a situation, he can also be rested in the ODI series against New Zealand, which is not a very important series.

Domestic cricket is also an important aspect in Hardik’s case. According to the report, he can play 2 matches for Baroda in Vijay Hazare Trophy.

India vs New Zealand ODI series schedule

• 11 January- Vadodara
• 14 January- Rajkot
• 18 January- Indore

Shubhman Gill has not got a place in the team for T20 World Cup 2026, which was surprising for the fans. Test and ODI captain Gill was the vice-captain in the T20 series against South Africa, his performance was not good. Gill got injured during this period, but he was dropped from the World Cup not because of injury. Now a report has revealed that BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia had called a secret meeting, in which the performance of the players was discussed.

When Shubman Gill was not playing T20, Sanju Samson was opening with Abhishek Sharma. With the arrival of Gill, Sanju had to come to bat lower in the order, but now questions are being raised whether it was necessary to include Gill in a strong team.

BCCI secret meeting

According to the report of News 18, BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia had called a secret meeting after the T20 match against South Africa in Dharamshala. In this there was discussion on the performance of the players. Before selecting the World Cup squad, the Secretary had asked for a report on the performance of the players from the Chief Selector. This meeting was important before the selection of the T20 World Cup 2026 team, which was kept completely confidential.

Questions raised on Shubman Gill’s poor form

Shubman Gill became the captain of the Test team this year. His first Test series as Test captain was in England, in which he performed brilliantly with the bat. Gill had scored 754 runs. After this, Gill was also given the captaincy of the ODI team and was made the vice-captain of the T20 team. But the end of the year was not good for Gill, he could score a total of 32 runs in 3 T20 matches against South Africa.

Shubman Gill was ruled out of the fourth T20 due to injury, although this match did not take place due to fog in Lucknow. After this, he also remained out of the fifth T20 played in Ahmedabad on 19 December. A day after this, on December 20, the team for T20 World Cup 2026 was announced in the press conference.

Discussion on Gill’s bad record

According to the report, in this secret meeting of BCCI, Shubman Gill’s poor T20 record this year and his average were discussed. During this period, names of players like Yashasvi Jaiswal also came up. It was said that Gill is in the team, but there is a question mark on the place of players like Yashasvi and Sanju Samson. In this meeting, it was decided that Gill will not be in the team for T20 World Cup 2026.

Gill had scored 4, 0 and 28 runs respectively in the first three T20s against South Africa. After this he suffered a leg injury and was out of the fourth and fifth T20. Let us tell you that Shubman Gill was also kept out of the T20 World Cup 2024, in which India became the champion by defeating South Africa in the final.

Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2026

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

The Indian team has been announced for the T20 World Cup 2026, Ishan Kishan has returned in this team captained by Suryakumar Yadav. Vice-captain Shubhman Gill and Jitesh Sharma have been dropped. Former cricketer Wasim Jaffer raised a big question about the team, he feels that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jitesh Sharma should have been in this team. According to him, these two players could have been in place of Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar.

T20 World Cup 2026 will be organized from 7 February to 8 March in India and Sri Lanka. The team was announced through a live press conference on Saturday, December 20, which was attended by Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar, BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia and Suryakumar Yadav. On Sunday, the day after the team was announced, former cricketer Wasim Jaffer tweeted, “Why not Jaiswal and Jitesh? #T20WorldCup.” After this he made another post.

What did Wasim Jaffer say?

Wasim Jaffer reposted his own tweet and wrote, “I would have played them (Jitesh and Yashasvi) instead of Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar. Axar is the vice-captain, so his playing is certain and you cannot play Washington before Varun Chakraborty and Kuldeep Yadav. Jitesh has not done anything wrong that he should be dropped and Yashasvi, there is no need to tell why he should not be in the team.”

I would have them in place of Ishan & Washi. Axar is VC so he’s sure to play and you can’t play Washi ahead of Varun and Kuldeep. Jitesh hasn’t done anything wrong to be dropped and Yashasvi, don’t need any explaining why he shouldn’t be there in first place. #T20WorldCup2026 https://t.co/68BtGDKZYx

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) December 21, 2025

Indian team for T20 World Cup 2026

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

India’s schedule in T20 World Cup 2026

• 7 February- vs America (Mumbai)
• 12 February- vs Namibia (Delhi)
• 15 February- vs Pakistan (Colombo)
• 18 February- vs Netherlands (Ahmedabad).