Former India batter Wasim Jaffer has expressed his disappointment around India’s T20 World Cup squad, questioning the exclusion of young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma. Jaffer was surprised at the choices made by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee.
Lauding Jaiswal's approach, Jaffer pointed out that Jaiswal has consistently delivered strong performances in the shortest format at the top of the order, and such qualities are invaluable in the T20I World Cup.
The former opener also questioned the absence of Jitesh Sharma, who has established himself as a reliable finisher and a dynamic wicketkeeper-batter. Jaffer asserted that Jaiswal and Jitesh should have been selected ahead of Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar.
"Why not Jaiswal & Jitesh? I would have them in place of Ishan & Washi. Axar is VC, so he's sure to play, and you can't play Washi ahead of Varun and Kuldeep. Jitesh hasn't done anything wrong to be dropped, and Yashasvi, don't need any explaining why he shouldn't be there in the first place," Jaffer posted on his X handle.
India recently named their squad for the marquee event set to be played early next year, bringing in Ishan Kishan after his heroic performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he guided Jharkhand to title victory. India also made a surprise call by dropping Shubman Gill and appointing Axar Patel as vice-captain.
India's squad for the T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice-capt), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wk).