“I actually thought he was going to be captain” - Ex-Australian cricketer slams Indian selection committee for not picking Shreyas Iyer

Former Australian keeper-batter Brad Haddin has expressed disappointment over Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from the Asia Cup 2025 squad, adding that it was a strange decision not to pick him while he thought Iyer was of captaincy material.

Notably, many former cricketers and the cricketing fraternity expressed shock over the omission of Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal from the Asia Cup 2025 squad. Interestingly, both batters had an excellent IPL 2025 season for their respective franchises.

“Well, one, leadership qualities. Two, the style of player he is under pressure, and he’s someone that everyone plays better with when he’s on the team. I had no idea. I first thought when I was reading it that he was injured, but he’s not. So, it’s a strange decision for me because he brings so much to the game. I actually thought he was going to be captain. Extraordinary selection,” Haddin said on the Willow Talk podcast.

It’s worth noting that Iyer led the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise to IPL 2024 title victory, defeating the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the grand finale. Later, he propelled the Punjab Kings to the grand finale after the gap of 11 years.

Furthermore, Shreyas’s father, Santosh Iyer, in a recent interaction with Times of India, had expressed his disappointment on his son not making it to the final 15-man squad for the showpiece event.

“I don’t know what else Shreyas has to do to make it to the Indian T20 team. He has been performing so well in the IPL year after year, from Delhi Capitals to Kolkata Knight Riders to Punjab Kings, and that too as a captain. He even captained KKR to the IPL title in 2024 and led PBKS to the final this year,” he said to TOI.

“I am not saying make him the Indian captain, but at least select him in the team. Even if he’s left out, he never shows dissent. He’ll simply say, ‘Mera naseeb hai’ (It’s my luck; you can’t do anything now). He is always cool and calm,” said Santosh.

“He doesn’t blame anybody, but deep inside he must be naturally disappointed,” he added.

India’s squad for Asia Cup: 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.

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.

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