One of the noticeable misses in the recently declared Asia Cup 2025 squad has been Shreyas Iyer. The Punjab Kings captain, earlier in the year at the Indian Premier League 2025, not only has taken his side into the final with his shrewd leadership but also was an important cog in the batting wheel of Punjab, coming in at three or four, depending on the situation. However, since his being dropped from the Indian squad, many former players and pundits have been quite vocal and questioned the selectors for his absence. Former South African cricketer Ab de Villiers, offering his perspective, said it may have to do with what Iyer offers in the dressing room, which might have gone against him.
“Thinking about when I was captaining, if there is a 50-50 call between two players, I would always lean towards the guy that offers more from a team perspective off the field. 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 dragging energy from the squad?,” said De Villiers on his YouTube channel.
“Maybe it’s got something to do with that. I am just taking a complete guess because it is weird that a quality player like him not making the starting squad for Team India, especially with the leadership qualities he is bringing. Maybe it’ll be too much of a clash with him there and maybe there are too many leaders and too many captains. Maybe the truth will come out one day and we’ll know why Shreyas is struggling to get into Team India,” he said.
De Villiers also speculated that there might be a few things that have happened in the past that might have affected his place. “Who knows what is going on behind closed doors. Maybe not even Shreyas knows. There might be a few things that have taken place over the years that’s determined why he is not the flavor of the month this tournament. I am not sure what the reason is because he will be in my team more often than not.”
“I just read through that squad and I was thinking where Shreyas Iyer can fit in. I’ve seen fans being upset about his exclusion and Shreyas will be the most upset because he’s played some really good cricket over the last few years. He has matured a lot and has shown a lot of leadership qualities,” De Villiers said.
