Dashing Indian batter Shreyas Iyer was left out for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 as the BCCI announced a 15-man squad for the continental tournament on Tuesday. The right-hand batter recently led Punjab
Kings to their second season finale and even scored over 600 runs at a stunning strike-rate of 175.07. Despite a remarkable performance in the IPL 2025, the Mumbai cricketer failed to make the cut.
A day after the team announcement, Punjab Kings took to their social media handles to share a video featuring their captain. The franchise captioned it ‘Sapranch Saab,’ expressing their love for Iyer.
Sarpanch Saab 🫶
📹: IG/pallav_paliwal pic.twitter.com/fu6tUFeKRh
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) August 20, 2025
Earlier, on Tuesday, the chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, pointed out how there’s no space in the team as of now and that Iyer will have to wait for his chance.
“With regards to Shreyas, I mean, you need to tell him who he can replace. No fault of his, nor is it ours. It’s just that we have to pick 15 at the moment, he’ll have to wait for his chance,” Agarkar told reporters on Tuesday.
Shreyas Iyer last featured in a T20I back in December 2023, but the 30-year-old remains a strong contender for India’s middle order. In international cricket, he has accumulated 1,104 runs at an average of 30.66 and a strike rate of 136.12, underlining his reliability.
With Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Axar Patel already locking their places, India still has two to three middle-order slots to fill. The biggest battle has been for the No. 3 role, where Tilak Varma and Iyer are the frontrunners. Tilak impressed during the South Africa tour with two centuries and 280 runs at a staggering strike rate of 198.48, though his IPL 2025 campaign was more subdued—343 runs in 13 innings at 31.18 with a strike rate of 138.30.
Iyer, however, made a strong statement for Punjab Kings, smashing over 600 runs at a strike rate of 175.07—the highest since Chris Gayle (2011) and Suryakumar Yadav (2023).
