India T20 World Cup Squad: Fairytale Return For Ishan Kishan After 3 Years Following SMAT Success

A record breaking Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season saw Ishan Kishan break the selection door and earn a recall to the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. Kishan scored 517 runs and led Jharkhand to their maiden title, scoring a century in the final. With Sanju Samson penciled to open, Kishan is likely to serve as backup but will have a chance to prove himself in the IND vs NZ t20Is.

India's T20 World Cup squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan (WK), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

Ishan Kishan last played a T20I for India in November 2023. He has since found himself out of favour due to a multitude of reasons. However his stellar campaign with Jharkhand has forced a re-think with the selectors pivoting to the Sunrisers Hyderabad star. Kishan displaced Jitesh Sharma from the squad, and will compete with Sanju Samson for a opening slot. It is important to note Kishan and Abhishek both play for the same franchise in IPL.