Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra believes Shreyas Iyer deserved to be named to India’s 20-man squad (15 squad members and five standby players) for the Asia Cup 2025.
Notably, India’s roster was declared on August 19 at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. Despite some outstanding performances with the bat recently, Iyer was not selected, and his exclusion has sparked heated criticism on social media.
He played his last T20I for the Men in Blue in December 2023. Chopra believes that Iyer could have been accommodated as a backup No. 3 or No. 4 player.
“The biggest question was whether Shreyas Iyer could have been accommodated in this team. I am using the word ‘accommodate’ because he is your No. 3 or No. 4 player, and you have Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma at those positions. Sometimes, you make allowances. He is not an automatic fit. It doesn’t seem like he is absolutely perfect. It was a judgment call. Did Shreyas Iyer not deserve to be picked even in the 20? That is a bigger worry,” shared Chopra in a video on his YouTube channel.
Chopra suggested the selectors ought to provide reassurance to Shreyas Iyer that he still remains a part of their plans in the T20I format despite the snub.
“I really hope that a phone call has happened where you have told Shreyas why he hasn’t been kept in the squad and the reserves, and that he is in your scheme of things. If I had tried to accommodate Shreyas, I would have kept him in the team. I would have been slightly fluid among Shreyas, Tilak and Surya from No. 3 to 5. Then, I would have kept Hardik at No. 6, Jitesh Sharma at No. 7, and then I might have sacrificed either Shivam Dube or Rinku Singh, and gone with Axar after that,” he remarked.
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