India is the shortest and most competitive team with many players vying for a spot in the team; therefore, all players are under immense pressure to perform. Sanju Samson is one of them, followed by Kuldeep Yadav.

The competition on the Indian T20I side is not only a competition between opponents, but also a competition within the same Indian team. The competition is so fierce that veteran T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav’s status will also be threatened if he no longer captains the Indian team.

The fate of Suryakumar Yadav as captain still hangs in the balance. However, if he continues the good form he showed against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup, he will remain in the Indian side even after the World Cup is over. But the fate of some players will be decided in this T20 World Cup, including wicket-keeper Sanju Samson.

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Three players who may be dropped from the Indian T20I team after the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup:

3. Kuldeep Yadav

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav may be left out of the Indian team after the ICC T20 World Cup. This is a significant change for all to see, especially after the emergence of Ravi Bishnoi.

Ravi Bishnoi was a long-time fixture in the Indian T20I team; however, he was released after a poor spell and the emergence of Varun Chakravarthy. The World Cup squad will also not include Kuldeep as the first-choice spinner as Chakravarthy will line up alongside him Axar Patel.

Yadav may be asked to focus on red-ball cricket while playing the 50-over format, but this seems to be the final stretch of his current 20-over format. He was part of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup winning team.

2. Jasprit Bumrah

Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah seems to be a surprising addition to this list. The ace Indian pacer is yet to play all the matches for India and he has to manage his workload in the white-ball format. Bumrah, who represented India in Test matches, is no longer playing in the ODI format as he is focusing on T20Is.

On the other hand, Bumrah’s next target is to participate in the ICC World Cup in 2027. If he plays in the 50-over tournament, then he is likely to be left out of the 20-over tournament to check his fitness.

Bumrah’s pace has slowed relatively due to injuries and increased workload; besides, India need him to be effective in both the longer formats and other bowlers who can make a difference in T20Is have also surfaced. Therefore, this might be Bumrah’s last T20 World Cup.

1. Sanzhou Samson

The snubbing of Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson seemed to be the most obvious decision made by the Indian selectors. He may also be left out of the starting XI for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup. Tilak Varma is likely to replace him in the starting XI and Ishan Kishan will occupy the empty space next to it Abhishek Sharma.

Sanju Samson is in bad form lately series Against New Zealand. He had played a new role for India in the Asia Cup and Australia series, but was later selected and given an opening role in the T20I final against South Africa. However, Sanju Samson, who has scored 46 runs in 5 games at an average of 9.20 and has a poor strike rate, is unlikely to make it into the India T20I squad after the T20 World Cup.

Also read: BCCI selectors announce India’s starting XI for T20 World Cup 2026, Sanju Samson dropped out