India, Dec. 20 -- The announcement of India's T20 World Cup squad opened the floodgates for debate. Headlines have been dominated by the omissions of Shubman Gill and Jitesh Sharma. The selectors favoured tactical flexibility over individual credentials, a gamble that speaks to both strategic clarity and concerning planning gaps.

Dropping the Test and ODI captain from a World Cup squad seems quite dramatic, but the numbers justify the move. Shubman Gill has managed 18 successive T20 innings without a fifty, scoring only 291 runs in his last 15 matches at an average of 24.35 and a strike rate of 137.26. In an era where Abhishek Sharma strikes at 188.02 and Sanju Samson at 180.06, Gill's strike rate looks pedestrian.

Chief selector Ajit A...