Fight busts out between Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar for Shreyas Iyer's future in Team India

A media report in Cricblogger suggests that Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir wasn’t in favor of including Shreyas Iyer in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 despite Chairman of Selectors, Ajit Agarkar pushing Iyer's case.

Shreyas Iyer played a crucial role in the winning campaign of the Champions Trophy as he was the highest run-getter for India and the second-highest run-getter in the tournament.

Why does Gautam Gambhir dislike Shreyas Iyer?

Despite winning the IPL 2024 together with KKR, Gautam Gambhir never wanted to include Iyer in any format for the Indian team, according to the reports.

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Gambhir was the mentor of KKR's winning campaign in 2024, and Shreyas Iyer was the skipper of the side at the same time.

Gambhir also questioned the management about Iyer's inclusion in the squad despite not being fully fit in the World Cup 2023.

Iyer was released from the BCCI’s central contract list in 2024 but made a splendid comeback in the Champions Trophy despite the head coach not being in favor of his inclusion in the squad.

Gautam Gambhir claimed publicly that he has no involvement in the team selection, but the reports suggested a different part of the story.

Gambhir wasn’t present at the press conference announcing of Indian Test squad for the England tour. Gambhir hasn’t proved himself in Test cricket yet as a coach.

Shreyas Iyer's omission from the Indian Test squad

Shreyas Iyer wasn't included in the Indian Test squad for the England tour despite having a brilliant season with the bat in domestic cricket. Iyer was dropped in the last England series midway because of his poor performances in the red-ball format.

After Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket, this was the golden opportunity for Iyer to settle in the middle order of the Indian Test squad.

The selectors picked Sai Sudarshan, Karun Nair and Abhimanyu Easwaran over Shreyas Iyer in the squad. Iyer was also not considered for the India A tour of England.

Gautam Gambhir is not in favor of picking Sai Sudarshan

According to the Cricblogger report, the Indian head coach was also not in favor of the inclusion of Sai Sudarshan in the Indian Test squad.

Being a left-hand batter, Gambhir opposed the name of Sai in the squad. But Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill insisted on Sai’s name to all five selectors.

Ultimately, Sai got his maiden Test call-up from the selectors. All the eyes will be on the Indian team, whether Gambhir gives a chance to Sai in the final playing XI.

Reports are also claiming that the Indian Test team skipper Gill and head coach Gambhir are not on the same page before the England tour.

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