Ajit Agarkar Clears The Air On Iyer-Jaiswal Snub
Ajit Agarkar explains bold move behind not selecting Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal for India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025.
India’s 15-man squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was announced on Tuesday (August 19) in Mumbai, with chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Suryakumar Yadav addressing the media. While the inclusion of youngsters Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma came as no surprise, the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer drew attention. Both players were left out of the main squad but Jaiswal was named among the standbys, alongside Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel.
Agarkar admitted that it was “unfortunate” for Jaiswal to miss out but said Abhishek Sharma’s all-round ability gave him the edge. “It’s unfortunate. What Abhishek has done over the last year or so, plus giving us a bowling option, is required. One of these guys was always going to miss out,” Agarkar said. The left-handed Abhishek, along with Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma, had an outstanding run for India in the past season, making it tough for selectors to drop any of them.
Jaiswal, who was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad last year but didn’t play a single game, had strong IPL 2025 numbers—559 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 159.71. In 22 T20Is, he has scored 723 runs at an average of 36.15 with one hundred. His last T20I appearance came against Sri Lanka, where he managed 80 runs in three games at a strike rate of 177. Despite his credentials, the selectors asked him to wait for his chance, given the stability of the current top order.
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Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion raised further debate. Agarkar clarified that his omission was not performance-related. “Shreyas Iyer. No fault of his. He has just had to wait for his chance. You have to tell me, who you will replace him with?” he told reporters. Shreyas had a stellar IPL 2025 season with Punjab Kings, scoring over 600 runs at a strike rate of 175.07, the highest for a batter with such returns since Chris Gayle in 2011. But with Tilak Varma impressing in international cricket, the selectors opted to persist with him.
India’s squad will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, with Shubman Gill as vice-captain. Jasprit Bumrah returns to lead the pace attack, while the spin department features Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy. India begin their Asia Cup campaign on September 10 against UAE.
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Last Updated on August 19, 2025
