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Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has questioned the exclusion of star batter Shreyas Iyer from India’s squad for the ACC Asia Cup 2025.
Last week, India’s men’s selection committee announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025.
However, the exclusion of Iyer raised eyebrows, especially considering his outstanding performance in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), where he scored 604 runs at an average of 50.33 and an impressive strike rate of 175.07.
AB de Villiers has recently spoken out, expressing his surprise at Iyer’s exclusion from the team. He articulated his confusion over the decision to overlook a player of such remarkable talent and potential.
During an interview with Indian media, de Villiers emphasized that Iyer’s maturity, steady progression in his career, and impressive leadership abilities should have made him a natural choice for selection.
“Of course, it’s weird to me, a quality player like that not making the starting squad for Team India, especially with the leadership qualities he’s bringing,” he stated.
“I have no idea, to be honest. 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.”
The former captain of the South African cricket team suggested that various factors outside of the game might have influenced the selectors’ final decision.
“He’s matured a lot. He has demonstrated many leadership qualities, but who knows what is happening behind closed doors? Maybe, not even Shreyas knows,” he further added.
“There might be a few things that have taken place over the years that have determined why he’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.”
The Asia Cup 2025 will begin on September 9 with Afghanistan taking on Hong Kong in the opening fixture.
India are placed in Group A alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, hosts UAE, and Oman.
They open their campaign against the UAE on September 10 in Dubai, before locking horns with Pakistan on September 14 in one of the tournament’s most-anticipated clashes.
Their final group stage match against Oman is scheduled for September 19 in Abu Dhabi.
India’s squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson.
Reserves: Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
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