Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers recently came forward and talked about the possible reasons why Shreyas Iyer has been excluded from India’s squad for the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup 2025.
The Asia Cup 2025 is looming on the horizon; the marquee event is all set to kick off on September 9, and ahead of the tournament, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) took centre stage and announced Indiaโs squad for the event. Ahead of the competition, one of the most shocking announcements was the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer from the squad.ย
Despite being one of the top performers for the side in white-ball cricket, Iyerโs exclusion from the squad received severe backlash from the fans, and former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers took centre stage and gave his take on Iyerโs situation.ย
“Who knows what is going on behind closed doors. Maybe not even Shreyas knows. There might be a few things that have taken place over the years that’s determined why he is not the flavor of the month this tournament. I am not sure what the reason is because he will be in my team more often than not,โ Iyer said in a video on his YouTube channel.ย
“I just read through that squad and I was thinking where Shreyas Iyer can fit in. I’ve seen fans being upset about his exclusion and Shreyas will be the most upset because he’s played some really good cricket over the last few years. He has matured a lot and has shown a lot of leadership qualities,โ he added.ย
De Villiers names further reasons over Iyerโs dropping from the squad
Furthermore, AB de Villiers also talked about how some intangible factors could have played a role in Iyerโs exclusion from the squad; he also gave the opinion from the perspective of a captain.ย
“Thinking about when I was captaining, if there is a 50-50 call between two players, I would always lean towards the guy that offers more from a team perspective off the field,โ De Villiers said.ย