India’s squad for the South Africa T20Is dropped a quiet bombshell: Rinku Singh, the man who’s been a regular part of the T20I set-up as a finisher since 2023, has been left out. Not injured, not rested — just left out. And once again, right ahead of another T20 World Cup. In his place? Another all-rounder. Actually, several.
Hardik Pandya is back (expectedly) and Shubman Gill returns (also expected), but the real story is what this 15 says about February 2026. The message from the Ajit Agarkar-led committee is pretty clear: multi-skilled players will shape the shortest format. You need to bowl a few overs and offer batting flexibility.
Nitish Reddy makes way for Hardik, and that’s why Rinku — for all his ice-cold finishing — gets squeezed out by the sheer weight of multi-utility players: Hardik, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and even Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma, who can both bowl some spin. India want to bat till eight, possibly nine, and still have six bowling options.
Then look at the spinners — four of them: Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar and Washington. At home, and in Sri Lanka next year, India plan to choke teams with spin from every angle while still having batting cover if someone has an off day. Three spinners in the XI won’t be a surprise; it’ll be the default.
And the wicketkeepers? Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma. One of their selections will shape the batting line-up. Will Samson bat at three or five? Or will India bank on Jitesh the finisher?
This feels like a first draft of India’s 2026 World Cup squad. Rinku might still fight his way back, but right now he’s the highest-profile casualty of a team that has decided flexibility beats specialised roles.
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