Kris Srikkanth, a former India opener, has chastised the selectors for leaving Shreyas Iyer out of the Asia Cup 2025 group of 15 players. The 1983 World Cup champion claims that given his present play, the captain of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) ought to have been selected for the No. 5 place by default.
On Tuesday, August 19, captain Suryakumar Yadav and chief selector Ajit Agarkar jointly held a news conference in Mumbai to unveil India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad. After his Test achievements for England, Shubman Gill was named vice-captain, but Shreyas was again passed over.
In his ‘Cheeky Cheeka’ YouTube channel, Srikkanth was criticizing Team India’s Asia Cup 2025 roster selection when he asked why Shreyas was left off.
“You are being biased against Shreyas Iyer. What mistake has he committed? Shreyas Iyer played so well in the Champions Trophy in the UAE sometimes back. Why were his performances not considered?”
Kris Srikkanth
Agarkar’s argument that Shreyas had no place on the team was also refuted by the 65-year-old. In response to the statement made by the former India bowler, Srikkanth stated:
“Agarkar asked, ‘where is the place for Shreyas Iyer?’. No. 5 straightaway. Six can be Hardik Pandya, seven Axar Patel and eight Jitesh Sharma. The balance of the team has got totally lost. Shubman Gill has done well in the IPL and the Champions Trophy, so go ahead with him. But, by the same yardstick what wrong has Yashasvi Jaiswal done?”
Kris Srikkanth
The former India chief selector, who still supports Shreyas, questioned why players like Harshit Rana, Shivam Dube, and Rinku Singh were chosen before him. Srikkanth went on to say:
“Shreyas Iyer should have been an automatic choice on current form. He scored 600-plus runs in the IPL and took the team to the final. Look at his strike rate – it’s 175 and average is 50. Brilliant performance. Agarkar was talking nonsense. I don’t agree with him. You can give a place to Harshit, Rinku and Dube, but not to Shreyas. There is not logic behind it.”
Kris Srikkanth
Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma are two keeper-batters in India’s 15-member squad for the 2025 Asia Cup. Lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah has also been added, as has left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
When did Shreyas Iyer last play a T20I for India?
Indian all-round batter Shreyas Iyer also has not featured in a T20 International since December 2023 where he played against Australia in Bengaluru despite having performed decently in the shortest format.
Iyer has played 51 T20Is so far representing India with 1,104 runs being scored with an average of 30.66 and strike rate of 136.12. He has eight half-centuries and the highest score of 74*. More recently, he featured chiefly in India winning the Champions Trophy in the UAE earlier this year and makes his case that he can be of assistance in white-ball cricket.
