India would aim for a hattrick of ICC limited-overs titles when they host the T20 World Cup 2026. India won the T20 World Cup 2024 and backed it up with a win in the ICC Champions Trophy. The 2026 T20 World Cup is about a year away, but the preparations will get underway soon after the IPL. India will play three T20Is against Bangladesh, and five against Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand before the T20 World Cup. The series will be used to build a strong team for the showpiece event. The India squad for the T20 World Cup 2026 will be very different from the one that played in the T20 World Cup 2024, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja retiring from the format.

India already have a settled unit in T20Is so there will only be a few slots up for grabs. Among the players who are certain to play are - Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy.

The tussle will be for the opener's role. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and possibly Ruturaj Gaikwad could be in the fray. A lot will depend on how the players perform in IPL but given the significance of the tournament, India would want an experienced opener so Shubman Gill has a slight advantage. Sanju Samson could serve as a backup keeper so he will also be preferred. One of Sharma and Jaiswal should be the backup opener.

The middle order is sorted with Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh but India could put Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul in there to add more experience to the batting. Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy will be the two lead spinners, but India will have at least two more in the squad given that the tournament will be played in India. Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav should be the preferred choice.

As for the fast bowling, Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead the attack and Arshdeep Singh should accompany him with the new ball. Mohammed Shami's T20 career might be over so there could be a chance for Mohammed Siraj's comeback or the team could prefer Harshit Rana.

India's Likely Squad For ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav

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