India spin legend Harbhajan Singh hailed his former national teammate Ajit Agarkar for overlooking the selection of a comprehensive squad for their T20 World Cup title defence which begins in February in the sub-continent.
On December 20, 2025, the Agarkar-led national selection committee unveiled the 15-member squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup, making India the first of the 20 teams in the competition to reveal their squads for the showpiece event.
Harbhajan said the selection panel chaired by Agarkar had done a remarkable job, even as he rued the non-selection of ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill. Gill had returned as vice-captain of the side during the 2025 Asia Cup last September, but eventually lost his spot out to Sanju Samson.
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“The team is really good. I had told that Ajit should be given 10/10 for the team. I felt a little bad for Shubman, but he will get more chances soon. All the players are match winners in their own right. Hope we can win back-to-back World Cups because we have that team,” Harbhajan told ANI.
Harbhajan noted skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s extended lean patch and insisted that the team’s key players needed to up their game come the marquee event.
“Suryakumar has not made many runs, but when the WC comes, we will need big players to fire. He will shine bright in that big match. Abhishek (Sharma) can win you matches on your own. The form Hardik (Pandya) is in, he is a key player. We also have Arshdeep (Singh) and (Jasprit) Bumrah in pace,” he added.
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Harbhajan also said that Gill’s non-selection was eventually down to the question of overall balance of the squad. In his place, India opted to choose a back-up wicket-keeper in Ishan Kishan with Samson and Abhishek Sharma listed as the first-choice openers.
“Gill was bound to make a comeback. I had no doubt that there was any question about Shubman’s return. I think Shubman Gill was left out solely because of the T20 format and the combination Team India wanted. Otherwise, I never had any doubt that he would not be in the ODI or Test team. So, he has returned as captain. I hope the team plays well, and this series will also be won by India,” Harbhajan Singh said.
India’s T20 World Cup squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
