Nonsense: Kris Srikkanth blasts Ajit Agarkar over Iyer's Asia Cup snub reasoning

India Today

7 hours ago

Former India captain and chief selector Kris Srikkanth has lashed out at senior national selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar over the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer from India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025.Srikkanth said he could not fathom the logic behind Agarkar's reasoning for leaving Iyer out of the 15-member squad for the continental tournament, which begins on 9 September in the UAE.advertisementAgarkar, when explaining the decision, underlined the challenges of selecting a T20I side from a vast talent pool. He posed the question of at whose expense Iyer could be included in the final 15.
'With regard to Shreyas, who can he replace? No fault of his, nor is it ours. At the moment, you can only pick 15,' Agarkar said.Notably, Iyer was not even part of the five-man reserves picked for the Asia Cup. Instead, India included a third wicketkeeper in Dhruv Jurel among the travelling reserves, while Iyer was overlooked.On his YouTube show, Srikkanth was scathing in his criticism.'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 said.'He has been brilliant. Yet you have left him out. You've confused him now,' Srikkanth added.'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.'Also Read: Shreyas Iyer knocks hard, but T20I doors stay shutIyer, who last played T20I cricket for India in December 2023, enjoyed a stellar IPL 2025 season. Leading the Punjab Kings, he scored 604 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 175, showcasing a marked shift in approach with an all-out attacking style prioritising team needs.Srikkanth argued that Iyer should have been preferred over players such as Rinku Singh or Shivam Dube, insisting that Iyer's IPL form was significantly better.While Rinku and Dube have played the finisher's role for India, their recent performances, particularly in IPL 2025, were well below their best.'NO LOGIC AT ALL'Srikkanth also questioned the inclusion of Sanju Samson, pointing to his underwhelming returns in IPL 2025 and the five-match T20I series against England earlier this year. Samson managed only 285 runs in the IPL at a strike rate of 140.advertisement'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,' Srikkanth said.He further expressed surprise at the exclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal.'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 asked.Jaiswal was part of the T20 World Cup squad, where Shubman Gill was only a reserve. Despite continuing his fine form across formats and scoring 559 runs at a strike rate of nearly 160 in the IPL, Jaiswal has not found a place in the Asia Cup squad. Gill, meanwhile, has returned to the T20I fold as vice-captain.India will open their Asia Cup T20 campaign against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai on 10 September.India squad for Asia Cup 2025Surya 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: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.- EndsTune InYou May Also Like