India announced their 15‑member squad for the T20 World Cup 2026, which will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The announcement of the squad left a lot of people quizzed, as some shocking exclusions were announced, most notably being the exclusion of Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma.
Fans were left confused at the omission of wicket-keeper batsman Jitesh Sharma, who had a fantastic IPL season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He had a key role in the club’s trophy-winning campaign, and many fans believed that he deserved a spot in the World Cup squad.
India’s Chief Selector spoke at a press conference in Mumbai and tried to clarify the reasons behind Jitesh Sharma not being picked for the squad. “At the moment, when you look at combinations, if your wicketkeeper is going to bat at the top, the thought process was to have another wicketkeeper as backup, just in case there is any problem. Right now, Jitesh was there earlier and hasn’t really done much wrong,” Agarkar said.
Fans react to Jitesh Sharma’s snub
Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan reacted to the team selection and wrote on X, “Jitesh sharma will think what did i do so wrong to be missing out? Surya Kumar Yadav need to be in form getting into the World Cup. Hoping for him to be scoring run vs NZ to feel good abt his game.”
Jitesh sharma will think what did i do so wrong to be missing out?
Surya Kumar Yadav need to be in form getting into the World Cup. Hoping for him to be scoring run vs NZ to feel good abt his game.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) December 20, 2025
Fans also let their voices be heard as one of the fans on X wrote that, “Feeling bad for Jitesh Sharma. He has performed very well in all the matches he got so far but still missed the chance to play #T20WC2026 Do you also think the same?” Another user who while expressing confusion wrote that,” If we consider current form and runs in last 20 innings, then Surya Yadav must not be in the team, foreget about making him captain. Jitesh sharma must be in the team. He is good at both keeping and batting.”
The selectors argued that they were looking for team structure and flexibility. However, it has left many fans disillusioned, and the exclusion of Jitesh Sharma has sparked heated discussions on social media.
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