India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was recently announced.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons since Tuesday. The selection committee announced the squad which will be on the flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the Asia Cup 2025. The tournament will take place from September 9. The exclusion of Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal is being highly questioned by the masses. The Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper performed very well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025, after leading the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a title in 2024. On the other hand, Jaiswal too has been one of the most consistent performers in the Indian circuit.
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The exclusion of these two talents was always going to be criticized by stakeholders. The Chairman of Selectors, Ajit Agarkar, expressed that it was unfortunate that the two players had to miss out. He also stated that there was no place for Shreyas Iyer in the side. Jaiswal, on the other hand, has been included as a stand-by, along with four other players.
Former India player Sadagoppan Ramesh has accused Gautam Gambhir of favouritism. He stated that the current Indian coach only backs the players which he likes. Since Gambhir took over as India’s coach, the team has had a mixed bag of emotions. After losing the Test series against New Zealand and an average Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the ICC Champions Trophy title win remains to be the highest achievement. Ramesh, however feels that the success of the recent Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has been overhyped.
“He [Gautam Gambhir] backs the players he likes but completely lets go of those he doesn’t. Winning consistently abroad had started long back under Kohli and Shastri. But now, just the drawn series in England is being projected as a big achievement in Gambhir’s track record”, the former cricketer said.
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Shreyas Iyer’s contributions to Indian cricket have been noteworthy. Especially in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, his performances in the United Arab Emirates were outstanding. Without a doubt, the Punjab Kings skipper was extremely crucial for India’s chances. Though the recently played Champions Trophy was played in the ODI format, Shreyas’ contributions in the shortest format have also been magnificent. In 51 matches for India, he has scored 1104 runs with a strike-rate of 136.12. Most of his runs have come at the No.3 spot.
In the recent IPL season, Shreyas scored 604 runs in the 17 games that he featured in. After a successful IPL 2024, he carried the Punjab Kings to the Final of the tournament. His average of 50.33 was his highest in an IPL season. His captaincy was also lauded by a lot of pundits and experts, along with his teammates. Vijaykumar Vyshak, the pacer who represented PBKS also regarded Shreyas for his exemplary style of leadership.
What separates the 30-year-old from the rest is his ability to play fearless cricket and score runs at will. The boundary which he scored off Jasprit Bumrah in the Eliminator of IPL 2025 went down as one of the best shots in the season. Along with his batting, his captaincy showed signs of astute awareness and brilliance. The bowling changes that he made were very clever in terms of the situation of the games. Having said that, Ramesh feels that Shreyas helped Gambhir win the only tournament he has in his tenure currently, and that he should have been included.
“Gambhir’s biggest achievement remains the Champions Trophy triumph, and Iyer was the biggest reason for that success. Yet, Gambhir is not backing him. Someone like Jaiswal, who is an X-factor player, must play all formats. Keeping him in standby is a poor move”, he concluded.
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