Former wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik reacted to Shubman Gill’s snub from the T20 World Cup 2026 squad, saying the decision shows lack of clarity from the side of the selection committee. Gill, who was the vice-captain of Team India’s T20I side, was not considered for the global tournament along with Jitesh Sharma despite both players’ presence in the recently concluded series against South Africa.

Speaking on Instagram, Karthik said that he was not expecting Gill’s omission. The former cricketer said he finds the outcome shocking as the right-handed batter was backed by the team management and the selectors before getting dropped ahead of a global tournament.

“Shubman Gill, who was Team India’s captain has been dropped not just from the Playing XI, but from the team. They added another opener in the form of Ishan Kishan and dropped Jitesh Sharma as well. They have selected Rinku Singh in place of Jitesh Sharma.”

“Dropping Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma is a big news. I was not expecting it. It shows lack of clarity. Shubman was backed for a long time and when they picked the squad for the World Cup, he is not there,” he said.

Karthik said the presence of Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy makes India strong. However, he highlighted the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have retired from T20Is.

“India will not have the experience of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in a T20 World Cup Suryakumar Yadav is not in form. If he returns to form, it will help India. These are the two areas of concern,” he added.

Dinesh Karthik sympathised with Gill and Jitesh, calling their removal shocking. “Shubman Gill, I didn’t see that coming and I feel bad for Jitesh Sharma. Two shocking exclusions,” he concluded.