The BCCI has already named a 15-player squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. These same players will also take part in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand which will be played just before the tournament. On Wednesday former India batter Aakash Chopra shared his own alternate team choosing players who were not included in the official squad. One of the major surprises was that he left out star batter Shubman Gill who has recently been removed from Indias T20I side after a run of poor form. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has shared his alternate Team India squad Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has shared his alternate Team India squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. His team includes Ruturaj Gaikwad Yashasvi Jaiswal Shreyas Iyer Rishabh Pant Jitesh Sharma Nitish Kumar Reddy Krunal Pandya Deepak Chahar Yuzvendra Chahal Bhuvneshwar Kumar Mohammed Shami Mohammed Siraj and KL Rahul. BCCIs official squad announcement was the exclusion of Shubman Gill One of the biggest talking points during the BCCI’s official squad announcement was the exclusion of Shubman Gill. The batter has struggled for form in recent times. After being made India’s T20I vice-captain before the Asia Cup Gill failed to perform consistently. He played 15 innings scoring 291 runs with an average of 24.25 and a strike rate above 137. Because of these numbers the selectors decided to leave him out of the World Cup squad. Gill was added to India’s T20I team earlier this year when the team was doing well overall. He had an excellent Test series against England finishing as the highest run-scorer. Impressed by his form the selectors brought him back into the T20I side after more than a year. He was picked as an opener which meant Sanju Samson was dropped even though Samson had performed well in that role. This decision was widely criticised at the time. However while announcing the T20 World Cup squad the selectors changed their approach and included Sanju Samson leaving Gill out of the team. India will play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand starting on January 21 and ending on January 31. After that there is only a six-day break before the Suryakumar Yadav-led team begins its T20 World Cup campaign against the United States at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 7.