“Gautam Gambhir has also sent a message” - Monty Panesar opens up on India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad

Former England spinner Monty Panesar has stated that the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has sent a strong message to the Indian cricketing fraternity by removing out-of-form players from the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2026 campaign.

Speaking exclusively in an interview with KADAK, Panesar stated that it is a good message from the head coach to have under-performing players out of the squad. He went on to add that Suryakumar Yadav, who has been underperforming, could be the next player to lose his spot.

“Gautam Gambhir has also sent a message that no matter how big a player you are, if your form is not good, I am not afraid, I will drop you. I think that is a good message, because all the big players in India will think about it, that it should not be that next time it is our turn. You know, maybe he could even drop Suryakumar Yadav. So it is a good message,” Panesar told in an interview with KADAK.

“And I had been saying this earlier as well that Gautam Gambhir will take the right decision, the right decision for the team. And if he feels that whether you are a big player or a small player, if you are not in good form, he will not select you. I had a bit of a doubt earlier too that maybe Shubman Gill’s form has not been good. And Gautam Gambhir is the kind of leader who is not afraid; he will take big decisions. He has made a big decision now, and I think it is the right one,” he added.

Furthermore, Panesar also talked about the backup keeper Ishan Kishan’s selection at the last minute. Notably, Kishan had an exceptional Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 campaign as he led Jharkhand to a title win.

“When you look at Ishan Kishan’s form, you know in T20, in the SMAT, he was the leading run scorer, his form is good. Ajit Agarkar had also said the same thing, that we will select those players who perform well in domestic cricket. You know, if you are scoring the most runs, you have to be rewarded. Players should have hope that if I am playing domestic cricket, scoring runs, taking wickets, I will get my place to play for India. So I think it is a good decision to play Ishan Kishan,” he concluded.

India’s T20 World Cup 2026 Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

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