In Short
- Shreyas Iyer last played T20Is for India in November 2023 vs Australia
- He has impressed with both captaincy and his batting in recent times
- Despite giving a performance for the ages, Iyer remains out of contention
The India selection committee left the fans with several questions while announcing the squad for the Asia Cup 2025, as many deserving candidates failed to make it to the 15-member team. Given the cut-throat competition on the Indian T20I circuit, several names were bound to be left out. However, none of the missing players were as deserving as Shreyas Iyer, who’s revamped himself and shut down his critics with his stupendous performances over the past two years.
After being thrown out of the BCCI Central Contracts in 2024, Iyer took the setback on his chin and redeemed himself by leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL title. Fast-forward to the 2025 edition of the tournament, Iyer even revamped his game and managed to get rid of the only chink in his armour – short-pitched bowling.
The star batter dazzled at the crease as he hooked and pulled fearlessly, taking on fast bowlers and depositing them into the stands with utmost ease. Moreover, Iyer’s strike rate was also through the roof—a whopping 175.07, a sensational improvement from his previous best of 146.86.
However, none of his immaculate leadership, revamped batting, and altruistic approach were deemed worthy enough by the Ajit Agarkar-led Indian selection committee, who left Iyer’s behemoth T20I comeback go into oblivion.
While the wham-bam from Iyer’s willow was left to rot in a corner, it was the newly crowned prince of Indian cricket who found his way back into the T20I reckoning based on ‘some promise shown in his recent performance in Test cricket,’ as said by the chief selector.
Different metrics for different players?
Shubman Gill was named the vice-captain of the shortest format on the tour of Sri Lanka 2024, but couldn’t match the high-risk template of the Suryakumar Yadav-led side, which starts its innings infifth gear itself. Despite not being known to play flashy strokes from the word go, Gill has been entrusted to adapt to the role as the management foresees him as the future all-format leader.
While Gill has been backed to eventually transition into the role, Iyer, whose hands are itching to launch massive sixes for India in T20Is, has been asked to wait for his opportunity.
“In terms of Shreyas, it’s again unfortunate. You tell me who he can replace in this squad. It’s not his fault, nor ours—it’s just that only 15 can be picked, and at the moment, he has to wait for his chances,” said Agarkar in the press conference.
While Agarkar mentions that they only have 15 slots to fit, he also implied that Iyer wasn’t even worth including in the reserves, as those five spots have been taken by Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar, who also recently served as the assistant coach of the team, couldn’t get his head around the fact that Iyer didn’t deserve a place even in the top 20.
“I can’t fathom or understand what reason could justify Shreyas Iyer not being part of the 20-member squad. I’m not even talking about the final 15, but the 20 itself, which sends a clear message that Shreyas Iyer is not in the selectors’ scheme of things, at least from a T20 perspective,” said Abhishek Nayar on JioHotstar.
The ‘Dark Knight’ of the ODI side
Iyer has been the silent guardian and the watchful protector of the Indian ODI team in the past two years. However, India’s own commissioner, Gordon in Ajit Agarkar, feels that he isn’t the hero the T20I team needs right now. Iyer’s performances have often gone under the radar as he’s silently done his job under the shadows of the big stalwarts.
A world-record 530 runs batting at number 4 during the ODI World Cup 2023 and a well-compiled 243 runs in the victorious Champions Trophy 2025 campaign – the highest in the team—have all raised Iyer’s stocks as a true match-winner.
Iyer’s unprecedented T20 peak
Moreover, having led his teams to successive IPL finals – KKR in 2024 and Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2025 – Iyer has also proven his worth as a leader. The PBKS skipper truly led his team from the front in 2025, scoring 604 runs from 17 innings at an average of 50.33 with six fifties.
However, Iyer’s impact on the team was beyond numbers, as he left a golden chance to complete his maiden IPL century in the first match itself by deciding not to farm the strike and let Shashank Singh finish the innings with a flurry of boundaries. The selfless act sent the right message across the team as the leader was ready to sacrifice his personal milestones in pursuit of the team’s goal.
In the knockouts, Punjab faced the Herculean task of chasing 204 against the best bowling attack of the tournament, but Iyer took it upon himself to take them over the line as he even took on the beast named ‘Jasprit Bumrah’ to seal the deal for his side.
What more does the BCCI want?
Before IPL, Iyer had also proven his worth as a captain by leading Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy triumph with another thunderous show with the bat, which saw him score 345 runs from eight innings at an average of 49.28 with one hundred and as many fifties.
However, it seems that the selectors have turned a blind eye to Iyer’s performances, who continues to knock hard on their doors, only to remain unheard. The Mumbai batter has done everything in his control to deserve to don the T20I jersey. From successful leadership tenures to audacious strokeplay at crease, Iyer boasts a strong CV which could’ve easily made him the captain in any other country.
However, BCCI and the team management don’t even consider him worthy enough to be in the team, let alone give him any leadership position. As Iyer remains out of contention for the T20I side, the question remains: what more does he have to do to find a place in a team that is willing to tinker with its settled combination to accommodate some players, while his unprecedented performance continues to be ignored?
