The announcement of India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad has already triggered massive debates, and former India batter Manoj Tiwary has thrown himself right into the middle of it. Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, Tiwary expressed disappointment at the omission of Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal, two players he believes had done more than enough to warrant a place in the team. Tiwary has slammed Gambhir’s decisions.
“Two deserving candidates have been left out of the team. One is Shreyas Iyer and the other is Yashasvi Jaiswal,” Tiwary told ANI. “If you see old videos of the current head coach Gautam Gambhir, he had said that Yashasvi Jaiswal is such a player who at any given moment can walk into India’s T20 team. And you cannot think of keeping him out of T20s. Now that he himself is the coach, there is no place for Yashasvi.”
Jaiswal, despite being one of the brightest young openers in world cricket, only found a place among the standbys, while Iyer did not make the cut at all.
Why is Shreyas Iyer excluded?
Iyer’s exclusion is particularly surprising considering his consistency. He hammered over 600 runs in IPL 2025 at a strike rate of 175.07, the highest among all batters, and smashed 39 sixes to take Punjab to the final. Beyond the IPL, Iyer has 1104 runs in 51 T20Is for India, and has led Mumbai to domestic titles in both the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. He is also regarded as one of the most successful IPL captains of the past five years, taking Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings to finals and lifting the 2024 trophy with KKR.
Tiwary made a strong case for Iyer, who is coming off his most prolific IPL season yet. “If you see Shreyas Iyer’s performance in last year’s IPL and the domestic circuit. He has been one of the bests in the format. The way he averaged in 50s while making runs, guided Punjab Kings to the IPL final and before that, captained KKR to the title, it’s an eye-opener that he didn’t get a place in the T20 side,” Tiwary said.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar admitted it was tough to leave Iyer out. “It’s unfortunate that Shreyas Iyer misses out. It’s no fault of his, neither ours. He has to wait for his chance,” Agarkar said. “We have got some serious options in T20 squad… sometimes not the easiest squad to pick but good headache to have.”
