Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has showered praise on chief selector Ajit Agarkar for taking some tough calls for the T20 World Cup 2026 selection. Singh said the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel has named a potent squad for the T20I showpiece.
Agarkar and Co. decided to exclude out-of-form Shubman Gill from the T20I squad and included Ishan Kishan, who scored 517 runs in 10 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Jharkhand. Furthermore, Rinku Singh was included in the squad after he was not named in the T20I series against South Africa.
“The team is really good. I had told that Ajit should be given 10/10 for the team. I felt a little bad for Shubman, but he will get more chances soon. All the players are match winners in their own right. Hope we can win back-to-back World Cups because we have that team,” Harbhajan Singh told ANI.
The Turbanator said India will need big players like Suryakumar Yadav to fire in the T20 World Cup, whereas Hardik Pandya is also going to hold the key for the team.
“Suryakumar has not made many runs, but when the WC comes, we will need big players to fire. He will shine bright in that big match. Abhishek (Sharma) can win you matches on your own. The form Hardik (Pandya) is in, he is a key player. We also have Arshdeep (Singh) and (Jasprit) Bumrah in pace,” he added.
The former off-spinner also shed light on Shubman Gill’s exclusion. Gill scored just 291 runs in 15 innings at an average of 24.25 and had a strike rate of 137.26 in 2025 and thus found no place in the team.
“Gill was bound to make a comeback. I had no doubt that there was any question about Shubman’s return. I think Shubman Gill was left out solely because of the T20 format and the combination Team India wanted. Otherwise, I never had any doubt that he would not be in the ODI or Test team. So, he has returned as captain. I hope the team plays well, and this series will also be won by India,” Harbhajan Singh said.
The first T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Nagpur on 21st January.
