Mumbai: Selectors shocked the cricket world by excluding one of India’s most reliable batsmen, Shreyas Iyer, from the squad for the T20 Asia Cup starting September 9 in the UAE. Among those surprised was Shreyas’s father, Santosh Iyer, who expressed displeasure, saying: “I don’t understand what more Shreyas needs to do to regain his place in the T20 team. Every year he performs well in the IPL, yet he is still not given a place in the squad.”
The 30-year-old Mumbai-based batsman last played T20Is for India in December 2023. Since then, he has shone in the IPL: in 2024, he scored 351 runs and led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title with superb captaincy. Despite that, he was not picked for the 2024 T20 World Cup. In IPL 2025, captaining Punjab Kings, he piled up 604 runs and took his team to the final — yet even after this stellar season, he failed to make the Asia Cup squad. Instead, Rinku Singh secured a place in the main 15, while Riyan Parag was named among five reserves. In total, 20 players were chosen — but Shreyas wasn’t one of them.
Speaking to reporters, Santosh Iyer criticized the selectors further: “Even if you don’t want to make my son captain, at least select him in the team. Shreyas has never shown anger at missing out. He calmly says, ‘This is my fate.’ He always keeps his mind composed, he is by nature a calm person.”
He added, “Shreyas hasn’t blamed anyone, but of course, he is a little upset.”
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar, when asked about Shreyas’s omission, said on Monday: “It’s not his fault, nor ours. We had to pick 15 players, and we did. Others will just have to wait a bit for their chance.”
But former cricketer Mohammad Kaif posed a blunt question to the selectors: “Even if you didn’t consider Shreyas worthy of the main 15, why not at least include him among the five reserves?”
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