‘Who can he replace?’ Ajit Agarkar shoots down Shreyas Iyer snub from Asia Cup 2025 squad

Shreyas Iyer was snubbed from India's Asia Cup 2025 squad despite a stellar season with Punjab Kings

Shreyas Iyer was a big omission as Ajit Agarkar and Suryakumar Yadav announced India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad on Tuesday. Shreyas led Punjab Kings to the final of IPL 2025 with a stellar campaign, but was snubbed from India’s 15-man squad. The Men in Blue retained the likes of Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh in the team.

Shreyas Iyer snubbed once again in Asia Cup squad

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar selected a 15-man squad for the Asia Cup 2025 starting next month. Suryakumar Yadav leads the side with Shubman Gill returned as vice-captain for the multi-nation tournament. However, Shreyas Iyer missed out on selection, despite a fine run of form in IPL 2025. He scored more than 600 runs in IPL 2025 at a strike rate of over 175, with Punjab Kings reaching the final.

“One of these guys was always going to miss out. It’s just unfortunate that Yash Shishun might have to wait for his chance. With regards to Shreyas, I mean, we can replace that. Again, no fault of his. Nor is it ours. It’s just that he can pick 15 and, at the moment, he might have to wait for his chance,” Agarkar said in his press conference.

‘Shreyas is not as liked as someone else’: Former India coach Abhishek Nayar

Not only was Shreyas was omitted from the main squad, he was only not named in the reserves. Yashasvi Jaiswal was named as a the reserve batter despite the main squad having 3 openers in Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. Former India batting coach, Abhishek Nayar expressed his shock at the PBKS captain’s omission.

“I wanted to ask that question, why isn’t he in your reserves? Selection meetings can be very interesting. I can’t fathom the reason that Iyer isn’t there. It is a message to Shreyas Iyer, that you’re not in 20-man scheme of things. Riyan Parag or Dhruv Jurel could come in next. Maybe he is not liked as much as someone else,” Nayar said on Star Sports.

“Does he deserve to be in the 20-man squad, yes. But the only word to describe is — unfortunate,” he added.