NEW DELHI: In a major decision, the national selection committee on Saturday left out out-of-form vice-captain Shubman Gill from the 15-member India squad named for the home T20 World Cup. All-rounder Axar Patel was appointed vice-captain, while in-form Ishan Kishan earned a recall, edging out Jitesh Sharma as the second wicketkeeper behind Sanju Samson.Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar acknowledged that Gill’s omission was due to his lack of runs.
“Obviously he (Gill) has been short of runs and since he wasn’t picked, we needed a vice-captain,” Agarkar said at the press conference.Rinku Singh, part of India’s Asia Cup-winning squad earlier, returned to the side as the designated finisher, replacing Jitesh. Ishan, in addition to being the backup wicketkeeper, has been slotted in as the reserve opener.Full squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rinku Singh.
