Follow UsLife is unfair, and certainly in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer’s cases, after the duo were left out of India’s 15-member squad for the Asia Cup. Jaiswal had a stellar IPL 2025 season with a strike rate of 177.4 in the first six overs, smashing a boundary every 3.1 deliveries.
On the other hand, Iyer not only amassed 604 runs, averaging 50.33, but led Punjab Kings (PBKS) to their first-ever IPL final since 2014, where they narrowly lost against RCB. Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin stated it is ‘extremely sad and unfair’ that the duo were not picked in India’s setup.
“Extremely sorry and sad for both Iyer and Jaiswal. He did brilliantly well for KKR, made them win. He was sent into the auction. He then took Punjab to the finals for the first time since 2014. We didn’t even notice that bit during selection,” Ashwin said on his YouTube video.
“He overcame the short ball problem. He was hitting the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Jasprit Bumrah with ease in the IPL. I am just extremely sad for him and Yashasvi Jaiswal; it is extremely unfair,” added Ashwin.
Indian selector Ajit Agarkar reasoned out why Jaiswal missed out, stating that there was no place for the left-handed batter with Abhishek Sharma in the setup.
“Unfortunately for Yashasvi [Jaiswal], Abhishek has done really well for India in the past, and he can bowl as well. It is quite unfortunate. We could only pick one of the two,” Agarkar revealed in the press conference.
Ashwin didn’t stop there, stating that if both of them return to India’s setup, they will have an ultimate dilemma – should they play for themselves or the team?
“Both of them are extremely selfless and play for the team, even if they are on 46. You can only win games if you bat like that for India. Should they play for themselves or the team when they return to the setup?” Ashwin asked further.