Shreyas Iyer suddenly gets India captain backing amid clash with Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian women's cricket team captain and renowned broadcaster Anjum Chopra has expressed her thoughts on Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from India's squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, starting on September 9 in the UAE.

Despite his consistent performances in domestic cricket and IPL, Shreyas Iyer was not included in the T20I squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. This decision didn’t sit well with the fans and many former cricketers, and they have been slamming the BCCI and selectors for overlooking Iyer.

Anjum Chopra defends selectors amid backlash over Shreyas Iyer’s Asia Cup 2025 omission

Well, Anjum Chopra acknowledged Iyer's strengths and performances across the formats, but she suggested that the Indian selectors must have had strong reasons for their call not to include the Mumbaiker in the Asia Cup 2025 squad.

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Anjum Chopra was quoted as saying by Crictoday: “The positives you mentioned about Shreyas Iyer —his form in recent years and his IPL consistency—everyone has seen, even the selectors. Yet, despite that, he was not picked. That means they must have had strong reasons, as explained in the press conference.”

She also felt Iyer should have been part of India’s recent Test tour of England. However, the commentator emphasized that it is natural for Iyer to feel disappointed but suggested the middle-order batter keep performing at the highest level and trust the selectors’ judgment.

You should just keep giving your best: Anjum Chopra to Shreyas Iyer

Chopra further noted, “As players, it does feel bad, because Shreyas deserved to be in the squad, even in England. But as a cricketer, I’d say one should just keep giving their best. Ultimately, the decision-makers have multiple options, and we have to trust their judgment.”

Notably, Shreyas Iyer’s last appearance in T20 Internationals came on December 3, 2023, when India faced Australia in Bengaluru. He played a brilliant knock of 53 runs from just 37 balls in that T20I game and helped India beat the Kangaroos by six runs in Bengaluru.

In his T20I career so far, Iyer has represented India in 51 matches and scored a total of 1104 runs at an average of 30.67 and a strike rate of 136.13. He has 8 fifties in the T20Is to his name, with his highest score being an unbeaten 74.

Read Also: Asia Cup 2025: BCCI makes shocking schedule change for Team India

Anjum Chopra breaks the silence on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's ODI future amid retirement rumors

Meanwhile, the future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in ODI cricket is under the spotlight, with talk of retirement growing ahead of the Australia tour in October.

Having already retired from Test and T20I cricket, it is being said that the upcoming ODI series in Australia could be their final dance.

However, Chopra feels both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should decide their own call, saying her absence from the public eye led to speculations over their future with Team India in the ODI cricket.

Anjum signed off by saying, “Both of them have been sitting at home for a while now and are away from the media and the cricketing world. So, people are missing them a lot and talking about them. When they come on the ground, all these talks will go away. They will perform as they are two big players. I don’t think we should decide anything for them. When they play, then everybody watches.”