Athletics Federation of India has announced the team for World Relays 2026. Speaking to the media, AFI’s former President and World Athletics Vice-President confirmed the squad along with several other updates.

As per him, India had qualified six relay teams for the World Relays 2026, but the federation has decided to send only five, opting not to send the women’s 4x400m team.

Men’s 4x400m: Rajesh Ramesh, Manu TS, Amoj Jacob, Dharamveer Choudhary, Theerthesh Shetty, Vishal TK, Nihal Joel
Men’s 4x100m: Pranav Gurav, Gurindervir Singh, Animesh Kujur, Ragul Kumar, Harsh Raut, Tamilarasu
Mixed 4x400m: Rashdeep Kaur, Kumari Saloni, Ansa Babu
Women’s 4x100m: Nithya Gandhe, Sneha S.S, Tamanna, Sudeshna Shivankar, Srabani Nanda
Mixed 4x100m: Team will be selected from the men’s and women’s squads

However, the major talking point was the omission of Vikrant Panchal, who clocked 45.88s — the third-best time by an Indian this season. Notably, six athletes went sub-46s this season, with five included in the squad, leaving Vikrant as the only one excluded.

When nnis Sports raised this issue during the press conference, Adille said, “He doesn’t fit in our policy,” and asked us to refer to the relay selection policy on their website.

As per the “Selection Guidelines for Indian Relay Team” dated March 20, 2025:

  • Athletes training at the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Trivandrum under an AFI-authorised coach
  • Selection will be purely based on merit
  • Athletes who qualify individually in the 400m but are not part of the NCOE camp will also be eligible

nnis Sports also raised a question regarding Kumari Saloni’s inclusion in the mixed relay, despite not being a camper earlier. Responding to this, Adille said, “She is a camper, she has joined the camp.”

We pointed out that she joined after the Open Relay this month. Adille responded, “That’s okay as long as she has joined the camp.”

nnis Sports has learned through multiple sources that Saloni joined the camp on April 5, just 12 days before her inclusion. She reportedly received a call from AFI via email on April 2.

Meanwhile, Vikrant, who competed on April 11, did not receive any communication from the federation.

Adille further added that Vikrant was not available for doping control after his race at Indian Series-3, stating, “Vikrant has not given his dope test. He was not available on the ground after the race.”

However, nnis Sports was present at the venue and observed Vikrant sitting near the finish line for around half an hour due to fatigue, with no NADA officials approaching him for testing.

Later, nnis Sports interviewed him from 8:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the warm-up track, and still no officials arrived for testing.

This raises serious questions about transparency and consistency in the selection process.

Adille also cited past cases, including that of Nirmala Sheoran, who was stripped of her Asian titles after a four-year ban, as a reason for caution in selecting athletes outside the camp system.

However, a recent positive case involved Sneha Kolleri, a camper who represented India at the 2025 World Relays and later tested positive for Stanozolol. She has recently been handed a three-year ban by the AIU.

Notably, she had tested negative multiple times in India, but a later re-analysis of a sample collected by NADA in Chandigarh returned positive, raising further concerns.