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AB de Villiers has tried to ‘guess’ reasons for Shreyas Iyer’s Asia Cup absence, ranging from ‘clash of leaders’, to a decision on who might be ‘draining the squad’s energy’.
Shreyas Iyer has been left out of the 2025 Asia Cup squad (PTI Photo)
South African legend and former IPL superstar AB de Villiers has tried to decode the possible reasons behind Shreyas Iyer’s snub from India’s squad for the 2025 Asia Cup. He guessed that when there’s a 50-50 call to take for the decision-makers, they generally look at off-field things, like energy in the dressing room and ‘clash’ of personalities, which could have worked against the Punjab Kings batter.
Shreyas led PBKS to their second IPL final in his first season in charge in 2025. He also scored over 600 runs at a strike rate of 175-plus in the season, playing several key knocks in the top and middle order. He hadn’t played any T20Is since 2024, and the selectors didn’t find IPL showing convincing enough to see him replace an established member in the team. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar also said there was no space for him.
“Maybe not even Shreyas knows,” de Villiers said of the off-field issues in a video on his YouTube channel. “But there might be a few things that have taken place over the years that have determined why it’s not the flavour of the month for a certain tournament. He’s a quality player. He’ll be in my team more often than not. But sometimes, and I’m not talking about Shreyas now, but sometimes thinking about when I was captaining, if there’s a 50-50 call between two players, I would always lean towards the guy that I feel offers more from a team perspective off the field,” he added.
“When it’s 50-50 on the field, you have to start looking at other areas, like does he add value in the team room? Does he have a smile on his face? Does he uplift some of the other players around him? Or is he sort of draining energy from the squad? Maybe it’s got something to do with that. I’m just honestly taking a complete guess. Of course, it is weird to me, a quality player like that, not making the starting squad for Team India, especially with the leadership qualities he’s bringing. Maybe it will be too much of a clash with him there,” he added.
Most of the squad was on the expected lines, except for Test skipper Shubman Gill’s inclusion as the backup opener ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal. de Villiers conjectured whether the team thought there would have been ‘too many captains’ in the squad if Iyer was included.
“Maybe there are too many leaders there, too many captains. I have no idea, to be honest. I was just trying to explain to you what I would think. If there’s a 50-50 call, you would always lean towards the guy that you feel will bring the best out in other players,” he said.
“So, a team player kind of call. That’s my best guess. I’m not saying it’s true. Make up your own mind. Actually, ask more questions about it and let me know what you think. Maybe the truth will come out one day, and we’ll know exactly why Shreyas is struggling to get into Team India, starting line-ups or squads at least,” the Protea added.
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