‘Happy for my thambi’ – R Ashwin on Sanju Samson’s inclusion in India’s 2026 T20 World Cup squad

Sanju Samson (Photo by Santanu Banik/Getty Images)

Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has weighed in on India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026 next year. The Men in Blue’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup squad was announced at the BCCI headquarters on December 20.

The erstwhile spin-bowling all-rounder complimented the squad and was happy to see Rinku Singh back. He also wished wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson the best for the 20-over tournament and also stated that he was happy that Samson will finally get to open the batting.

Ashwin also lauded returning wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and commended the southpaw for working his way through the domestic circuit to gain an international call-up after falling out of favour from the Indian setup. Kishan recently led Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title triumph, leading from the front with the bat.

Speaking about India’s squad, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team with Axar Patel as his deputy. Shubman Gill, now the ex-T20I vice-captain, was notably dropped from the squad after a string of underwhelming T20I performances in the recent past. Jitesh Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy were not selected.

India, slotter in Group A, have their group stage matches on February 7 (USA), February 12 (Namibia), February 15 (Pakistan) and February 18 (Netherlands). They will be entering the competition as defending champions after winning the 2024 edition.

India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2026

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel (vc), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

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