Agarkar’s Selection Process Called ‘Nonsense’ by Former BCCI Selector Over Shreyas Iyer Omission from Asia Cup 2025
Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from Asia Cup 2025 Squad continues to spark criticism and debate
The announcement of India’s 15-member Asia Cup 2025 squad has ignited heated debate, with chief selector Ajit Agarkar under fire for omitting Shreyas Iyer. Despite a stellar IPL 2025 season – 604 runs at a strike rate of 175, Iyer failed to make both the main squad and the reserves, where Dhruv Jurel was picked as a third wicketkeeper.
Agarkar defended the decision, stating:
“Shreyas Iyer. No fault of his. He has just had to wait for his chance. You have to tell me, who you will replace him with? It’s just that you can pick 15 and at the moment, he’ll have to wait for his chance,” he said at the press conference.
However, former India captain Kris Srikkanth strongly disagreed, branding the explanation “nonsensical.” On his YouTube show, he argued:
“On current form, Shreyas Iyer is an automatic choice. Let’s be very clear. You need to look at recent matches; there’s no point judging a player by form from a year ago. He scored 600 runs in the IPL at a strike rate of 175. Strike rate is the most important factor here. He has been brilliant. Yet you have left him out. You’ve confused him now. For a player who has performed so well, you are saying: ‘tell me who he will replace in the side’. I cannot understand this statement. It’s a nonsensical statement from Agarkar. Totally nonsensical. I don’t agree with him.”
Srikkanth also questioned the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had been in fine IPL and international form, while others with relatively modest numbers including Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, and Sanju Samson retained their places.
“You can accommodate Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh and Sanju Samson, but there’s no place for Shreyas Iyer. What is this statement? I cannot understand the logic behind this. There’s no logic at all. See, Yashasvi Jaiswal is performing in international cricket, he is performing in the IPL. What wrong did he do? How can you leave him out?” he added.
India’s Squad for Asia Cup 2025
Suryakumar 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
Reserves: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal
