Sport
India have already announced their 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, becoming the first team to do so. However, the early announcement does not mean the squad is locked in stone. As per the rules laid down by the International Cricket Council, teams are allowed to make changes to their World Cup squads within a defined window before the tournament begins.
Sport How long can India make changes to the squad?
According to ICC regulations, participating teams must submit their initial squad roughly a month before the start of the tournament. India were well within their rights to wait until early January to announce their team, but the selectors chose to name the squad nearly three weeks earlier.
Add Zee News as a Preferred Source
Crucially, teams are permitted to revise or alter their squads up to one week before the tournament starts. In India’s case, this means changes can be made until January 31, giving the selectors flexibility to respond to form, fitness concerns, or tactical requirements.
Sport What happens after the final deadline?
Once the final submission deadline passes, squad changes become far more restricted. Any replacement after January 31 is allowed only in exceptional circumstances, such as an injury or medical issue. Even then, the replacement must receive formal approval from the ICC, ensuring that teams do not make last-minute tactical swaps without valid reasons.
This rule applies uniformly to all participating nations and is designed to maintain fairness and stability ahead of the tournament.
Why did India announce their squad early?
India’s early squad announcement offers clarity and allows players to prepare with certainty, but it does not remove selection flexibility. By naming the squad well before the deadline, the team management has left itself a buffer period to monitor player fitness, workload, and performances in upcoming bilateral series and domestic competitions.
If required, India can still tweak their combination before the January 31 cutoff without needing ICC approval.
Sport SQUAD FOR WORLD CUP 2026
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Ishan Kishan (WK), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in india news andworld News on Zee News.