Asia Cup 2025: Why was Shreyas Iyer left out of Indian squad? A look at 3 possible reasons

India's squad for the 2025 Asia Cup is out and has met with sporadic reactions from fans and pundits alike. One of the notable absentees from the squad is Shreyas Iyer, who was touted to be in the mix for making the 15-member squad that was announced on Tuesday (August 19) afternoon. The Mumbai batter, who was one of the biggest signings at the IPL 2025 mega auction, led Punjab Kings to their first final in 11 years and also led from the front with stellar personal numbers.

 

In the 2025 season, Iyer tallied 604 runs at a fine average of 50.33 but it is in two other parameters that he outshone the best of the batters last season. Iyer's strike rate of 175 was comfortably the highest among all those who tallied 600-plus runs in the season, with T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav (167.91) at second spot. It was the same status quo in the list of most sixes hit in IPL 2025 with Iyer topping the list with 39 maximums among batters who crossed the 600-run mark. Even in the overall list, only Nicholas Pooran (40) hit more sixes than the Punjab Kings captain.

 

While he hasn't played a T20I in the recent past, Iyer's contributions in the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy were immense. In the CT, he was India's leading run-scorer too, showcasing his range against spin on slow pitches. With the Asia Cup also to be played in the UAE, you'd have thought that it was the perfect time for a comeback in the shortest format for Iyer. However, that wasn't to be.

 

Here are three major reasons why Iyer could have been ignored from the squad.

 

 

The perceived 'Rebel' attitude against BCCI

 

While his performances have done the talking across domestic and international cricket, Iyer's persona has been perceived as that of a 'rebel'. Remember, last year he was removed from the BCCI central contracts as well. There was a reason behind that too, as he was practicing at his IPL academy instead of playing domestic cricket but that decision seemed like an aftermath of many other underlying factors. The sheer weight of numbers and lack of alternate options meant that he had to be picked in ODIs but leaving him out from T20Is seemed an easier option.

 

Not in Gautam Gambhir's good books

 

 

Iyer also seems to have rubbed head coach Gautam Gambhir the wrong way. The duo were captain-coach at KKR during the victorious 2024 season. However, after that campaign, Iyer had publicly explained how he hadn't gotten the credit he deserved as captain of the side. That statement was the beginning of his eventual exit from the franchise and since then, he has reportedly not been in Gambhir's good books. The latter being India's head coach means that this is a bridge Iyer needs to mend at the earliest.

 

The brand and genius of Shubman Gill

 

Every generation has one superstar cricketer for India who is not only a prodigy in terms of talent but also potentially a global brand ambassador. Shubman Gill ticks both boxes and at the moment, he is on cloud nine after enjoying a historic start to his Test captaincy stint with the 2-2 draw in England. Apart from calmness as leader, Gill also tallied 750-plus runs in the series, showing that he can adapt to captaincy. This is one reason that he has been fast-tracked to vice-captaincy. Even otherwise, Gill has had three brilliant IPL seasons on the trot with his strike-rate on the upswing. All these factors meant that Gill was bound to sneak in and with no other top order spots available, Iyer had to miss out.

 

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