All T20 World Cup Players Dropped By BCCI From India Squad for England, Ireland T20Is

T20 World Cup winners dropped by India [Source: AFP, AP]

India is set to return to T20I cricket for the first time since the triumphant ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign in February-March earlier this year. They will travel to Ireland and England later in June, followed by the Asian Games 2026 in Japan.

Ahead of the fresh T20I cycle, the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, and his team have decided to make several changes to the setup, keeping the next 2-2.5-year vision in mind. The new squads include several new faces, including the new captain, Shreyas Iyer, returning to the side for the first time since December 2023.

The newest superstar of Indian cricket, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, is also in the squad, as the youngest player to receive an India call-up since Sachin Tendulkar in the late 1980s. However, a few T20 World Cup-winning players are also missing from both the Ireland and England squads and the Asian Games.

Below is a brief look at the list of players who have been removed from the T20I squad.

T20 World Cup stars dropped from India squad vs Ireland, England

1. Suryakumar Yadav

The most notable player to miss out from the Indian team is Suryakumar Yadav. He was the Indian captain from 2023 to 2026, during which he led the team in 52 matches, winning a whopping 40 of them. Since his debut in 2021, he has also been a crucial contributor with the bat, playing at 3 to 5.

In this period, he scored 3272 T20I runs in 113 innings at a strike rate of 162.94 and an average of 36.35. At one point, he was also the world number 1 batter, and despite a dip in form in the past few series, Suryakumar Yadav remains the pioneer of modern T20 batting.

At 35, with the next T20 World Cup more than 2 years away, it remains to be seen whether he makes a comeback into the side or not.

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2. Hardik Pandya

Another former T20I skipper, who led the team in 16 matches from 2022 to 2023, Hardik Pandya does not feature in the Indian T20I side as well. Currently, he is at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and will play the ODIs against Afghanistan after the ongoing Test match.

At 32, he has already played for India for over a decade, winning two T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026, while playing a crucial part in both. He has played 138 T20Is with 2288 runs at a strike rate of 145.91 and also has 114 wickets to his name — a unique 2000 runs + 100 wickets double.

As per Agarkar, his exclusion is to try out Nitish Kumar Reddy for some time, while getting Hardik Pandya ready for the World Cup 2027.

3. Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion from the T20Is does not surprise many after his form in the format dropped in recent months. He was already out of the playing XI, with Varun Chakravarthy getting a nod ahead of him and grabbing the opportunities with both hands.

He was a starter in the T20 World Cup 2024, but in 2026 he played only one match, which came against Pakistan. He got 1/14 (3) in that match and was on the bench for the rest of the games. At 31, he has played 54 T20Is, with 95 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.95 runs per over.

As things stand, he remains a crucial part of the ODI and Test team, but Ravi Bishnoi has replaced him in the T20Is.

4 Rinku Singh

Rinku Singh is a player whose place in this squad was always under the scanner. He had a great start to his T20I career but fizzled out a bit in the later part. In 2024, he was a reserve player in the team but eventually returned to the XI for the new cycle.

However, he always remained the first in the firing line if the team wanted to do any tactical tweaks. Ahead of the T20 World Cup, he had also lost his place in the 15-member squad before making a last-minute return in place of Jitesh Sharma. In the World Cup, Tilak Varma started playing as a finisher, which worked well for the team, but Rinku was again sidelined.

He had a dip in form for some time but played well in the second half of the IPL 2026. In 45 T20Is, he has scored 665 runs at a strike rate of 155.73 and at 29, he still has a chance to return to the team.

5. Jasprit Bumrah

India’s second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is, Jasprit Bumrah was instrumental in the T20 World Cup 2026 win, with his POTM-winning spell in the final against England. Following that, he had a substandard IPL, picking only 4 wickets.

Nonetheless, performances are never an issue with Bumrah, and as clarified by the selectors, he will be with the team in the Asian Games in Japan. He is only resting to manage his workload for a potential ODI comeback and the upcoming Test calendar.

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