Why was Shreyas Iyer not picked in India’s Asia Cup squad. That is something best known to Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, while others are only left to guess. Now, South African AB de Villiers has come up with his own explanation. He said, when it’s a 50-50 case, off-field things come into play, which might have led to the snub.
Shreyas Iyer Fails to Make it to Asia Cup Squad
This despite the fact that he has been in excellent form in the IPL for last two years, made the playoffs twice as skipper in two years, and won a trophy too. Despite that, Agarkar explained that there was no space for Shreyas Iyer. “Maybe not even Shreyas knows,” de Villiers said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“But there might be a few things that have taken place over the years that have determined why it’s not the flavour of the month for a certain tournament. He’s a quality player. He’ll be in my team more often than not. But sometimes, and I’m not talking about Shreyas now, but sometimes thinking about when I was captaining, if there’s a 50-50 call between two players, I would always lean towards the guy that I feel offers more from a team perspective off the field,” he added.
AB de Villiers as Clueless as Indian Fans
He went on to explain that something extra is needed in the players. “When it’s 50-50 on the field, you have to start looking at other areas, like does he add value in the team room? Does he have a smile on his face? Does he uplift some of the other players around him? Or is he sort of draining energy from the squad?
“Maybe it’s got something to do with that. I’m just honestly taking a complete guess. Of course, it is weird to me, a quality player like that, not making the starting squad for Team India, especially with the leadership qualities he’s bringing. Maybe it will be too much of a clash with him there,” he added.
Not a Team Player?
de Villiers’ second guess was, that maybe there were too many leaders in the team, that led to Iyer’s non-selection, without reaching a conclusion. “Maybe there are too many leaders there, too many captains. I have no idea, to be honest. I was just trying to explain to you what I would think. If there’s a 50-50 call, you would always lean towards the guy that you feel will bring the best out in other players,” he said.
“So, a team player kind of call. That’s my best guess. I’m not saying it’s true. Make up your own mind. Actually, ask more questions about it and let me know what you think. Maybe the truth will come out one day, and we’ll know exactly why Shreyas is struggling to get into Team India, starting line-ups or squads at least.”
