Shreyas Iyer (AP Photo)
NEW DELHI: India’s cricket selectors sprung a surprise by leaving out Shreyas Iyer from both the 15-member Asia Cup squad and the five standby players, despite his strong showings in the Champions Trophy and IPL 2025. The announcement was made by BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar and T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav on Tuesday.Iyer enjoyed an excellent IPL season, guiding Punjab Kings to the final while amassing 604 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 175.07. He finished as the sixth-highest run-scorer of the tournament.Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar voiced his disappointment at Iyer’s exclusion.“I don’t know, actually, I wanted to ask that question — aapke reserve players mein kaise nahi hai woh, if he is such a strong contender. Sometimes, you know, selection meetings can be quite interesting, and the discussions that happen in them can be very interesting,” Nayar said on Star Sports.“But I can’t fathom, and I don’t understand, what reason can justify Shreyas Iyer not being part of that 20-member squad. I’m not even talking about the 15, I’m talking about the 20-member squad, which sends a message to Shreyas Iyer that he is not in the team’s scheme of things. Because even if things don’t work out, he is still not coming into the team. Either Riyan Parag is going to make the cut, or someone else is,” he added.“So, the big question here is that maybe they are not looking at him from a T20 point of view — or perhaps any other point of view. But I always say this that any selection after a while is, ‘who you like a little more than the other’. In that regard, maybe Shreyas Iyer is not liked as much as someone else. Maybe.”Chief selector Ajit Agarkar, meanwhile, addressed the calls regarding Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal.“With regards to Shreyas, there’s no fault of his — nor is it ours. It’s just that we can only pick 15, and at the moment, he might have to wait for his chance,” Agarkar explained.“With regards to Yashasvi Jaiswal, it’s just unfortunate again. Abhishek Sharma, with what he has done over the last few months — or a year or so that he has been with the team — plus the fact that he can bowl a little, gives us an option if required by the captain. One of these guys was always going to miss out. It’s just unfortunate that Yashasvi might have to wait for his chance.”
