NEW DELHI: Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma has been left out of India's 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup 2026, despite being a regular member of the team in recent years, including the Asia Cup and bilateral series against Australia and South Africa.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar clarified that Jitesh has done nothing wrong, but the decision was made keeping the team combination in mind. Ishan Kishan, who had a stellar run in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, was preferred ahead of him.

After the squad announcement, his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru showed support for Jitesh Sharma on social media. They posted an image of him looking up at the sky with the caption: 'All heart. Built to fight.'

"Brave. Bold. Brilliant. Can't wait to see Jitesh's heroics in the T20 format this IPL," RCB further added.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who recently played in the ODI series against South Africa, shared a heartwarming response to RCB’s post, commenting with heart emojis.

Rutu

Agarkar explains Jitesh's omission

Agarkar stressed that they wanted to have an extra keeper at the top, and had to sacrifice a pure batter for that.

"We are looking at the combination. If the keeper is going to bat at the top, at the moment Jitesh is there and he has not done too much wrong. But we need to look at the combination and a keeper at the top," said the former India pacer.