India Players who could be Dropped from T20I Team based on IPL 2026 Form

The T20 World Cup 2026 was a landmark for Indian cricket as Team India claimed the trophy for the record third time. The success came through a collective effort from players such as Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, and Ishan Kishan. Weeks after the final of the tournament, players joined their respective franchises for the IPL 2026 season, during which some of the prolific players, who were a crucial part of the T20 World Cup-winning team, have been struggling with form. Performance in IPL could influence the selection process. If the selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, selects the T20I squad based on the IPL 2026 form, then multiple star cricketers will definitely lose their spots in the team. Based on the current forms, which players deserve to be dropped from India’s T20 International squad? Let’s take a look.

Suryakumar Yadav, the captain of the Indian national cricket team in the T20I format, has been struggling with form since the last quarter of 2025. His IPL 2026 performance has been dismal, with only 106 runs in 5 matches and 5 innings, averaging 21.20. This is a significant decline from his previous season batting average of 65.18 in the IPL 2025 with the Mumbai Indians.

Last 5 IPL 2026 matches of Suryakumar Yadav:
{
vs the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): 16
vs the Delhi Capitals (DC): 51
vs the Rajasthan Royals (RR): 6
vs the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB): 33
vs the Punjab Kings (PBKS): 0
}

Rinku Singh is another batter who made his name as a prolific finisher with the Kolkata Knight Riders before going to play with the Men in Blue. In 2023, the year when he made his T20I debut, Rinku scored 262 runs, maintaining a batting average of 65.50. However, in the following year, his average went down to 45.77. Despite a slow start in the IPL 2026 season, the Delhi Capitals’ Deepak Hooda has shown an improvement in his batting form. In the last 5 matches, his scores read 53, 60, 26, 39, and 22. This is a marked improvement from his average of 28.23 in the previous year.

Moreover, Hooda’s batting has been significantly influenced by his strike rate and his consistency in scoring runs. In the last 5 matches, Hooda’s strike rate has been 135.14, which is 25 more than the average strike rate of a batsman in T20 cricket. Ravi Bishnoi, the young leg-spinner, has shown promise in front of the opposition in the IPL 2026 season so far. Ravi has played 6 matches in the current season, taking 7 wickets at an average of 14.14 with an economy rate of 7.14. His best spell so far has been 2-20 in 3 overs when he helped the Punjab Kings defeat the Delhi Capitals. The player’s control and ability to keep the economy rate under control are impressive, especially in a season where most bowlers struggle to maintain the same level of performance.

The Delhi Capitals’ young and new wicketkeeper-batsman, Ishan Porel’s wicket-keeping skills might be a question mark but he has been consistently scoring runs with his bat. Ishan has played 7 matches in the current season with 134 runs at an average of 21.33. His ability to contribute to his team’s total, especially in the middle-order, has been a vital one. Another important factor is that Ishan averages 24.67 with 19 wickets in the T20 franchise, where 24.67 is his batting skills shown with his bowling.

Overall, while India has the potential to repeat its T20 World Cup success, the players who delivered in the previous season may have a tough time maintaining their spots if their form is not up to the mark in the ongoing season.