NEW DELHI: Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from the Asia Cup squad has sparked major debate, with several former players rallying in his support. The latest to join them is former India opener Aakash Chopra, who questioned what more Iyer needs to do to secure a place in the team.
"Shreyas Iyer not being there is a big story. What more will Shreyas Iyer have to do? What more can you do than what you have already done? You had a 600-plus run IPL season, took the team to the final, scored runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, played Ranji, and won the Champions Trophy. That's all you can do as a human being," Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"This is the Asia Cup team. Don't attach the World Cup with it because there are 15 T20Is after this. The world changes in 15 T20Is. If he keeps scoring runs in ODIs, sooner or later, Shreyas Iyer will be part of the team. I have a strong feeling that Shreyas Iyer will be a part of India's T20 World Cup team," he added.
One of the standout innings of IPL 2025 came when Iyer blasted a 41-ball 87, steering Punjab to victory over the Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2.
Chopra says that Iyer's absence even from the list of five reserve players is surprising.
"Shreyas' name is not even there in the five reserves, and that is surprising. It's understandable that you couldn't have him in the 15 as you can't play him in the XI, and you wanted lower-order batters as backup, where Shivam Dube is there, and Rinku Singh will be given another chance, which is absolutely par for the course," Chopra said.
"However, a place could have been created in the reserve players at least, where you have kept Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Prasidh Krishna. This player's name could have been there. You haven't kept it there either, and that doesn't send a great signal. The clarity in front of Shreyas' name is completely not there," he reckoned.
