Watch: “Tough call…” – Yuvraj Singh questions Shubman Gill’s T20 World Cup 2026 snub amid IPL buzz

When the 15-member Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka was announced, Shubman Gill was under massive pressure, having not scored runs for the home series against South Africa, including the Asia Cup 2025 and the away series against Australia.

Gill, who was excellent in 2025 for the Indian Premier League (IPL), didn’t find his name in the squad as the BCCI selectors decided to go with an extra wicket-keeper, Sanju Samson, who celebrated several records throughout the event as the blue brigade went on to lift their second successive trophy in the T20 World Cup. 

Yuvraj Singh’s reaction sparks debate over Gill’s exclusion

Yuvraj Singh, the World Cup winner and the former spin all-rounder of the national side, reckoned that luck played a massive role in Gill being out of the 15-member squad for the World Cup. 

“See, it’s really tough to perform consistently across all formats for the entire year, along with the captaincy (four formats, including the IPL). In that graph, there is only one person who has performed consistently along with captaincy across formats for the last 10 years, and that’s Virat Kohli.” Yuvraj expressed on Sports Tak.

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The Punjab-born shed light that rain, during their clash against Australia, played against Gill, who could have scored big and held his position in the playing eleven.

“Now, you brought a new boy (Shubman Gill) into the T20I side, and made him play the format for the entire year, and then you dropped him at the last moment due to lack of performance. I say that was a tough call. Normally, you have to choose 15, or you are carrying 16 or 17. So, that was a tough call.” Yuvraj added.

“Obviously, they wanted an extra keeper. Going back, Shubman, I guess, was batting on 37 or so off 21 balls against Australia, and suddenly, the rain came. If he had gone on to score 80 or 100, this question would not have been raised. So, I guess, not scoring in three to four matches in T20Is isn’t the right assessment for a player who can win the sixth game on his own.” The veteran reckoned.

Why Shubman Gill missed out despite strong IPL 2025 performances

Gill finished the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as the fourth-leading run-getter of the event. Leading the Gujarat Titans, the right-handed batter smashed 650 runs in 15 innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of around 156 with six fifties at the best score of 93*.

See Also: Watch: “Can’t take…” – Yuvraj Singh reacts to Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s ODI World Cup 2027 plans

But his form dropped terribly as he managed only 32 runs in three innings at an average of 10.67 and a strike rate of 103.23, and was dropped for the final clash.

Fans divided as selection call triggers discussion ahead of World Cup

Fans have divided on the selection call as it triggered discussions ahead of the World Cup 2026. Many reckoned that it was a wrong decision at that time, before the perception changed with India winning the title-