“I am not saying make him the Indian captain” - Shreyas Iyer’s father reacts on his son’s exclusion for Asia Cup

Shreyas Iyer’s father, Santosh Iyer, has finally opened up on his son not getting a chance in the Indian T20I team for the Asia Cup 2025 campaign, which is scheduled to start on Tuesday, September 9, in the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking to the Times of India, Santosh asserted that his son has led the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise to a title win in the IPL 2024 season, and later propelled the Punjab Kings franchise to the final vs RCB. However, he added that he doesn’t know what his son has to do to stand a chance in the Indian team.

"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," Santosh told The Times of India.

"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. He doesn't blame anybody, but deep inside he must be naturally disappointed," he added.

It’s worth noting that Iyer concluded the IPL 2025 season as the sixth-leading run-scorer, accumulating 604 runs from 17 innings at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 175.07 with six half-centuries. His best score of 97* was against the Gujarat Titans.

Also, Iyer was India’s leading run-scorer and the second-leading run-scorer overall in the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, amassing 243 runs in five innings at an average of 48.6 with two half-centuries.

India 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.

Stand-bys: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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