Gautam Gambhir’s stern reply on Shreyas Iyer’s absence from Test squad for series vs England, says ‘I am not a selector’

New Delhi: The Indian national men’s team will undertake a five-Test series in England, beginning in June. The event will take place at Headingley, Birmingham, Lord’s, Manchester and The Oval between June 20 and August 4.

The BCCI announced on May 24 that India would include 18 players for the series, but did not include Shreyas Iyer. Mumbai’s top scorer, the all-rounder aged 30 who helped Punjab reach the top of this season’s IPL, was unexpectedly not chosen for the squad.

Shreyas Iyer, who topped Punjab Kings’ IPL 2025 scoring with 514 runs from 14 matches, was surprisingly not chosen for India’s Test team by the Selection Committee.

Gautam Gambhir’s concise, five-word response to a question about Shreyas Iyer’s omission from the India-England tour squad has quickly spread online.

“I am not a selector,” was Gautam’s stern reply when he was inquired out Iyer.

In his Test debut for India against New Zealand in Kanpur in November 2021, Iyer scored a century. His most recent Test match for India was against England in Visakhapatnam the following year.

In his Test career, Iyer has scored 811 runs, including one hundred and five scores of fifty or more.

The Indian Test team has called up Karun Nair after eight years away. For the first time, B Sai Sudharsan and left-arm bowler Arshdeep Singh have been included in the Test line-up, with Iyer not included.

Shubman Gill will now lead India’s Test team, taking over from Rohit Sharma. His appointment means he is the 37th Test captain for India. In 32 Tests, Gill has gathered 1893 runs in his career.

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