There is a Russian saying that captures the spirit of aggression: "Even a bullet fears the brave." Ajit Agarkar & Co may or may not be aware of the Russian wisdom, but they have adopted a similarly hyper-aggressive approach in picking the squad for the Twenty20 World Cup.

The selection committee has chosen to bite the bullet and leave out Shubman Gill, perceived to be indispensable in all three formats till the other day from the contingent - a decision that seems at odds with the faith they have otherwise shown in the young prodigy. Viewed as the next big thing in Indian cricket - captain in Tests and ODIs and vice-captain in T20Is - enormous trust had been placed in the 26-year-old opener.

But on Saturday (December 20), Gill was dropped due to a lack of runs, with the selectors opting for Ishan Kishan as the third-choice opener behind Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson - both known for their ultra-aggressive batting. It marks a clear shift to a no-holds-barred approach, as opposed to the fire-and-ice combination that Gill and Abhishek were known to offer. Kishan sits perfectly into that philosophy, serving as a complementary third choice to the brand of blaze-and-blaze approach the selectors believe is best suited to T20 cricket.

"Shubman, we know what a quality player he is," explained Agarkar, addressing the issue. "Perhaps short of a few runs at the moment. Unfortunately, he missed out in the last World Cup as well because we went with a different combination. But it's the combinations more than anything else.

"Two keepers at the top - that's the way we want to try. Team management eventually will decide when they play and what kind of combinations they push on, who gives a little bit more depth from the middle to the lower middle order. It's more about the combinations. Someone has to miss out when you take 15, and unfortunately, it's Gill at this point."

The Russian preaching on fearlessness would have been irrelevant had Gill scored runs in the just-concluded T20I series against South Africa. But scores of 28, 0 and 4 did little to inspire the selectors' confidence, despite his proven ability and potential. His returns over the previous 12 games were equally underwhelming - 259 runs at an average of 28.77 and a strike rate of 143.09. Much more was clearly expected from Gill, who, incidentally, has now missed all four T20 World Cups since making his international debut in 2020.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav weighed in on the Gill exclusion stating it is more about combination rather than about quality, form or aggression at the top. "The thing is, post the T20 World Cup when we went to Sri Lanka, when I was appointed captain officially for the first time, we scored 200 runs in the first game. Gill played a good part in that as well.

"It's not about his form or anything; it's just about the combination right now. We wanted to have a keeper at the top. We wanted to have someone like Rinku Singh or maybe a Washington Sundar later on to have a different combination. So that's why we brought in that extra wicketkeeper at the top. And it's not just about form - we're talking about quality here. He's a terrific player, there's no question about that. It's just that the situation is such that we need a keeper to back up the order, to have two or three good combinations which can win us the World Cup."

It was still a brave call to leave out a player after constantly backing him for nearly five months. Some believe Gill's induction into the T20 scheme of things, starting with the Asia Cup, may have been an emotional decision, coming as it did immediately after a staggeringly fairytale Test series in England. Having taken his place, Samson and Ishan now face the onus of justifying their inclusion. Abhishek Sharma, the surefire opener, of course, is cut from a different cloth at the top of the order.

The captain further explained the need for a bellicose start in the format. "I think it's important to have a good start in the T20 format. That's what we feel. And a good start is like, for example, there are three phases in this format - the first powerplay, then overs 7 to 15, and then the last five overs. So we wanted to win the powerplay. And when we sat and analysed which combination won us the powerplay most of the time, we went ahead with that combination."

Gill's loss became a gain for Ishan, who scored a timely century in the SMAT final a few days ago. Agarkar explained the rationale behind the recall of left-handed keeper-batter who would be returning to the squad after more than two years.

"He's been in good form. He's played before for India. He has a double-hundred in the ODIs. He wasn't in the Indian team because there was Rishabh Patel and a Dhruv Jurel. They're two pretty good players. So, it's nothing to do with anything else. Like I said, he is back at the top. Sanju is back at the top. That's where we feel that's the combination that we look at."