No Shreyas Iyer in Asia Cup: Ajit Agarkar explains omission
What's the story
Ajit Agarkar, the Indian men's cricket team chief selector, has clarified the reason behind Shreyas Iyer's omission from the 2025 Asia Cup squad. Agarkar, while announcing India's 15-member squad, revealed that the decision was based on team balance and recent performances rather than any individual shortcomings. Notably, Suryakumar Yadav will lead India in the 20-over Asia Cup, with Shubman Gill as his deputy.
Tough choices
Iyer misses out due to team balance
Iyer, who was expected to make a T20I comeback, missed out with the influx of middle-order batters. The middle-order batter had a phenomenal IPL 2025, where he slammed 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07. He led Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final. Agarkar said that the decision was not a fault of either player or selectors but rather due to the limitation of picking only 15 players for the squad.
Wait
'Iyer will have to wait'
Iyer has emerged as one of the most improved batters in Indian cricket. He owns 1,104 runs from 51 T20Is at a strike rate of 136.12 for Team India. Agarkar, explaining his exclusion, said, "Again no fault of his. Got to tell me who he can replace? At the moment, will have to wait for his chance."
Do you know?
Iyer broke these records in IPL 2025
Iyer smoked 39 sixes in IPL 2025, the most for a captain in a season. He also became the second Indian after Rishabh Pant to maintain a 50-plus average and 170-plus strike rate in an IPL season (minimum 600 runs).
Squad details
India's squad for Asia Cup 2025
India's squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, and Rinku Singh. Standby players: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Tournament details
India begin campaign against UAE
The 2025 Asia Cup will be held from September 9 to 28 in the UAE, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi hosting matches. India have been drawn with Pakistan in Group A and could meet their arch-rivals thrice during the tournament. They will start their campaign against hosts UAE on September 10 before facing Pakistan (September 14) and Oman (September 19).