Ajit Agarkar's selection process termed 'nonsense' by ex-BCCI selector for snubbing Shreyas Iyer

The announcement of India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad has triggered immense controversies, with chief selector Ajit Agarkar facing heavy criticism for excluding Shreyas Iyer. Former India captain and ex-BCCI selector Kris Srikkanth has slammed Agarkar, questioning the logic behind leaving out one of the most in-form batters in the country.

Iyer, who led Punjab Kings in IPL 2025, was among the notable absentees from the 15-member squad led by Suryakumar Yadav. Notably, he was not included in the five-man reserves, where Dhruv Jurel was preferred as a third wicketkeeper. Agarkar defended the call by stating that the challenge was in fitting Iyer into the side without dropping someone else.

“Shreyas Iyer. No fault of his. He has just had to wait for his chance. You have to tell me, who you will replace him with? It’s just that you can pick 15 and at the moment, he’ll have to wait for his chance," he said at the press conference.

However, Srikkanth was not happy with the decision and mentioned that Iyer should have been an automatic pick in the squad, questioning Agarkar's statement regarding Iyer.

“On current form, Shreyas Iyer is an automatic choice. Let’s be very clear. You need to look at recent matches; there’s no point judging a player by form from a year ago. He scored 600 runs in the IPL at a strike rate of 175. Strike rate is the most important factor here. He has been brilliant. Yet you have left him out. You’ve confused him now. For a player who has performed so well, you are saying: ‘tell me who he will replace in the side’. I cannot understand this statement. It’s a nonsensical statement from Agarkar. Totally nonsensical. I don’t agree with him," the former said on his YouTube show.

What wrong did he do?: Srikkanth

The Mumbai batter hammered 604 runs in IPL 2025 at a strike rate of 175. Meanwhile, several selected players, including Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, and Sanju Samson, had decent IPL figures. Samson managed only 285 runs at a strike rate of 140. The former also questioned the exclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had an excellent IPL and consistent international form, yet missed out while Shubman Gill returned as vice-captain despite mixed T20I performances.

“You can accommodate Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh and Sanju Samson, but there’s no place for Shreyas Iyer. What is this statement? I cannot understand the logic behind this. There’s no logic at all. See, Yashasvi Jaiswal is performing in international cricket, he is performing in the IPL. What wrong did he do? How can you leave him out?” he added.

India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025

Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

Reserves – Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal