'Right Where I Have To Be': Shubman Gill Reacts To T20 World Cup Snub; Seeks More Prep Time For Tests

Omitted from India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad, ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill on Saturday (January 10) said that he respects the selectors’ decision and is staying focused on giving his best, whenever he gets the chance.

Gill was not in the scheme of things for the 20-over showpiece despite leading India in the other two formats. He has played 36 T20Is for the country, aggregating 869 runs at an average of 28.03 and strike rate of 138.59.

“My belief is that in my life, I am right where I have to be and whatever things are written in my destiny, no one can take those things from me,” the 26-year-old said at the match-eve press conference ahead of the first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara on Sunday.

“Obviously as a player, you have a belief that if you play in the World Cup, you will win (it for) your team, (and) you will win (it for) your country.

“Having said that, I respect the selectors’ decision and (I am) wishing the T20 team all the very best and I really hope that they win the World Cup for us”.

Asked if the snub could have an negative mental impact, Gill said it’s important to keep things simple. "Being a sportsperson, it's all about being in the present, the more (in the) present you are, even when you are on the field, more you are not thinking about what's going to happen, or what has happened in the previous moment, it gives you more chances of succeeding,” he said.

“I try to look at what I need to do now and what is important. The more we can be in the present moment, it makes our life more simpler, and if you make your life more simpler, it's a much peaceful and a happier space that you would want to be in," the top-order batter added.

The New Zealand series is only his second assignment after becoming India’s full-time captain in one-dayers. In November 2025, Gill had missed the second Test against South Africa and the following ODI series due to a neck injury sustained on the second day of the first Test in Kolkata.

'Never Easy': Gill On Injury Layoff

"(It is) never easy, especially whenever you get injured, watching your team play and you feel like you're missing out on all those games, especially when you've just been named the captain,” he said.

“There are so many things that you want to do and when you sit out there, it's definitely very frustrating.” Gill also rubbished the suggestion that senior players (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) had chosen an “easier format”, in the form of 50-over cricket, to continue representing India.

“The Indian cricket team hasn’t won a World Cup since 2011, so if it was that (easy), we would be winning (the) World Cup every second year (edition),” he said.

“It’s easy to say (that) but I don't think any format is easy. It requires a lot of resilience, a lot of persistence, and a lot of determination to be able to win big ICC tournaments.”

'Need More Prep Time For Test Series'

The skipper said he has been persistent in his discussions with the BCCI on seeking more preparation time ahead of Test series. “One of the suggestions that I was very keen on is, if you would see in the last two Test series that we played, we didn't have that much time to prepare,” he said.

“It's not easy playing in India, and playing another match in a different country on the fourth day, especially when you are travelling on long tours.”

Gill said this position won’t have changed even if India had beaten South Africa because he believes the Test team did not get enough time to prepare before the two home series this season.

“Even if we would have won the series against South Africa, it still wouldn't have made that much of a difference, because we know we need to prepare well to be able to win Test matches all over the world,” he said.

“Preparation for me is really big, and I didn't think that we had that much time to prepare when we came back from Australia, or even after the Asia Cup when we played the West Indies series.”

He added, “It’s important to at least have some bit of preparation especially changing from white-ball format to red-ball. I think we'll take some action and we'll keep it in mind to be able to prepare well before the start of any red-ball series.”

(With PTI inputs)