‘Baffled that proven performer Shreyas Iyer hasn’t even been picked in reserves for Asia Cup’

An ex-Indian selector has lashed out at the selection committee for leaving out Shreyas Iyer from India's Asia Cup 2025 squad

Former Indian selector Salil Ankola expressed disappointment over Shreyas Iyer being snubbed from India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad. Despite putting up consistent performances across formats over the last year, the Mumbai batter failed to find a place in the 15-member squad. When asked about his exclusion, chief selector Ajit Agarkar claimed that while it was no fault of Iyer’s, he had to wait for his chance to come.

Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion called out

Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Ankola lashed out at the selectors for excluding proven performers such as Iyer and Yahsasvi Jaiswal from the Asia Cup squad. The former selector said that he was baffled by the fact that the Mumbai batter wasn’t even included on the list of reserves for the tournament. Iyer was arguably one of the best batters in IPL 2025, amassing 604 runs at an average of 50.3.

“It’s surprising and shocking that proven performers like Iyer and Jaiswal are not in India’s Asia Cup squad while others who have just come in have found a place. I’m baffled that Shreyas hasn’t been picked even in the five-man list of reserves despite doing well in the IPL this year,” Ankola said.

Iyer last featured in a T20I for India back in December 2023. After he was snubbed from the BCCI Central Contracts list for 2024/25, the Mumbai batter put up consistent and impressive performances across formats in domestic tournaments.

India Squad for Asia Cup

Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh
Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel