Overview
- The BCCI announced a 15-man group for the five-match T20I series beginning December 9 in Cuttack, with Suryakumar Yadav as captain and Shubman Gill listed as vice-captain subject to fitness.
- All-rounder Washington Sundar was included, with coverage noting he comes in at the expense of specialist middle-order batter Rinku Singh.
- Pathan said on his YouTube channel that Hardik Pandya’s comeback left no room for Rinku and suggested this squad comprises roughly 90–95% of India’s 2026 T20 World Cup core.
- Rinku’s omission stands out after he hit the winning boundary in the Asia Cup final and then had limited playing time on the Australia T20I tour.
- Key names in the squad include Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Sanju Samson, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana.