India will enter the T20 World Cup 2026 as one of the favourites for the title. The Men in Blue won the title in 2024 and followed it up with a win in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. They'll look to make a hat-trick of ICC title wins in the T20 World Cup 2026, to be played in India and Sri Lanka from February 8.

The Indian team will be without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, who announced retirements from the format after winning the World Cup in 2024. India will begin their preparations for the T20 World Cup 2026 with a three-match series against Bangladesh. They'll also play five T20Is each against South Africa and Australia later this year. Ahead of the World Cup, they'll take on New Zealand in a five-match T20I series.

India Predicted Squad For the T20 World Cup 2026

According to reports, KL Rahul could be back in the T20I side after a brilliant show in IPL 2025. Rahul last played for India in T20Is during the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal against England. Shreyas Iyer's heroic performance in the IPL could also pave the way for his comeback to the T20I side. Rishabh Pant hasn't been great in the white-ball format, and the poor IPL might push the BCCI to move away from Pant in the limited-overs cricket for a while.

Among the players that are almost certain to be in the squad are - Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, and Kuldeep Yadav.

Varun Chakravarthy should also find a place in the squad given his skills and the conditions. Jasprit Bumrah's inclusion will be subjected to fitness and workload management. In Indian conditions, India can do away with Bumrah and let him focus on Tests and ODIs.

Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, and Harshit Rana could be the front-line pacers in the squad. Washington Sundar could provide backup to Axar Patel as a spin bowling all-rounder.

Players who were part of the previous T20 World Cup squad and are likely to miss the T20 World Cup team are - Rohit Sharma (retired), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli (retired), Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja (retired), Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

India Likely Squad For T20 World Cup 2026: KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar