Follow UsThe debate about whether it was right on the part of Indian selectors to not pick Shreyas Iyer for the Asia Cup 2025 team doesn’t seem to be dying down. It was given fresh air by former England spinner Monty Panesar, who said that the Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain could not make it to the Indian team because of his great leadership skills.
“One of the reasons Shreyas Iyer is probably struggling to get into the Indian squad is because he brings those leadership skills and, at the moment, possibly they’ve got that covered,” Panesar was quoted as saying to India Today.
“It gives them an opportunity to bring in someone younger, a bit more exciting to play, who would be easier to manage for coach Gautam Gambhir. So I think him being the captain in the IPL makes it a bit difficult for him to get into that team,” added the man who featured in 50 Tests and 26 ODIs for England.
Iyer, despite leading two teams to IPL finals back-to-back in 2024 and 2025, wasn’t able to get into either the T20 World Cup 2024 squad of India or the latest Asia Cup T20 squad.
All that Iyer can now do, as per Panesar, is score more runs. India’s senior men’s team chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, has said that it was not the final team for the T20 World Cup 2026, and thus, Iyer has another shot at making it to the Indian team.