Abhishek Nayar appalled by Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from India's Asia Cup squad

Dubai: India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Tuesday clarified that Shreyas Iyer’s omission from the Asia Cup squad was not performance-related. He emphasised the depth of talent in the current Indian setup, which made selecting the final 15-member squad a difficult task.

“With regards to Shreyas, you have to ask who he could replace. It’s not his fault, nor ours,” Agarkar said during a press conference. “We can only pick 15 at the moment, and unfortunately, he’ll have to wait for his chance.”

However, former Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nayar expressed surprise over Iyer’s complete exclusion — not just from the main squad, but even from the reserves.

“I don’t understand how he isn’t even in the reserves if he’s such a strong contender,” Nayar said on Star Sports.

“Sometimes, selection meetings can be very interesting, but I can’t fathom what reason could justify leaving Shreyas Iyer out of the 20-member squad. I’m not even talking about the main 15, not being among the reserves sends a message that he’s not in the team’s plans at all.”

Iyer had a stellar IPL season, scoring 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07 while captaining the Punjab Kings to the final. His performance had made him a strong contender for the Asia Cup squad. However, not only was he left out of the main team, but he was also excluded from the list of five reserve players.

Nayar speculated that the selectors might not be viewing Iyer as a part of India’s T20 plans anymore. “Even if someone gets injured or things don’t work out, he still isn’t in contention. Maybe Riyan Parag or someone else is ahead of him. It raises the question that perhaps the selectors don’t see him as a T20 option anymore. Or maybe, not even as an option in general,” he added. “At the end of the day, selections often come down to personal preferences, who you like a little more. And maybe Shreyas Iyer just isn’t liked as much as someone else. Maybe.”

The Indian selectors instead opted for Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, and captain Suryakumar Yadav to fill the middle-order roles in the final squad, with Iyer’s name missing even from the reserves.