Suryakumar Yadav is set to lead India in his first-ever ICC tournament as captain, with Axar Patel named as his deputy in the absence of star batter Shubman Gill, who was dropped after lean performances upon his return to the T20I setup in September.
Along with Gill, Jitesh Sharma, who had featured in the recent T20Is against South Africa, also missed out.
Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
Fiery opener Abhishek Sharma, who has a strike rate of 188.02 in the format, is expected to open the side, with Sanju Samson expected to partner him.
Ishan Kishan, who last played a T20I for India in 2023, has been brought in as the backup opener and wicket-keeper.
Kishan has been rewarded for his sterling campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament, where he led Jharkhand to the title while top-scoring with 517 runs in 10 matches at an average of 57.44 and a whirlwind strike rate of 197.32.
The biggest news coming out of the announcement was the omission of Gill, who was named the T20I vice-captain for the Asia Cup. However, since his return to the T20I setup in September, Gill had scored just 291 runs at an average of 24.25.
