“Shubman Gill’s exit was…”- Ravichandran Ashwin drops bombshell on opener’s T20 World Cup 2026 snub

subhradeep-choudhury — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:16:25 GMT

Ravichandran Ashwin drops bombshell on Shubman Gill's snub.

Unlike many pundits of the game who have expressed their shocking reaction to the omission of Shubman Gill from the T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, the former Indian off-spin all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, felt it was only a formality when the opener got injured and was out of the fifth T20I against South Africa.

Gill picked up the injury during a net practice for the Lucknow T20I, which ruled him out of the fifth clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The selectors, 12 hours later, announced Ishan Kishan’s arrival in the ICC event as Gill missed out on a home World Cup.

“Obviously, Shubman Gill had been given a lot of backing. The selectors showed a lot of faith because he was directly appointed vice-captain. Right now, it has become very clear what looks like a perfect combination. I believe the feedback should also have come from the Indian team management.” Ashwin expressed on his YouTube channel.

Ravichandran Ashwin not surprised at Shubman Gill’s omission

It hasn’t been a supreme year with the bat in the shortest format for Gill, who has an average of around 20 in T20Is this year without a single fifty to his name. He continued the same struggle even in the Protea series.

“We have to remember that India changed their style of play inside the powerplay. Rohit (Sharma) had shown it in the last World Cup. And that’s the style they wanted to continue. And Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma personify that particular passage and pattern of play.” Ashwin shed light during the interaction.

“Actually, this is irrelevant. I have said before that the combination and formula will change. I am not surprised. Because I think the way it was going, and we also talked about that you should give the next two T20s if he is available. Unfortunately, Shubman got injured, and the way he got injured and Sanju came into the side, it was only a formality that this was going to happen.” The Chennai-born concluded.