Recently, former South African cricketer AB de Villiers revealed that he was unable to understand why Shreyas Iyer was left out of the Asia Cup 2025 roster.
De Villiers stated that he is unsure of the reason behind Shreyas Iyer exclusion, but he suggested that the overabundance of leaders could be a contributing factor. Shreyas Iyer development and leadership qualities should have made him an automatic choice for his team, the 41-year-old said.
“To be honest, I’m simply making a wild guess. Naturally, I find it strange that a player of such calibre, especially with his leadership abilities, would not be included in Team India’s starting lineup. Perhaps the number of leaders there is excessive. To be honest, I don’t know. In a live conversation with fans on X, de Villiers said, “If it’s a 50/50 call, you would always lean towards the guy that you feel will bring out the best in other players.”
The cricket community has been talking a lot about Shreyas Iyer exclusion.
“He’s grown up a lot. Although he has demonstrated a great deal of leadership, who can tell what goes on behind closed doors? Nobody. Not me. Not you people. Perhaps not even Shreyas is aware. However, there may have been a few events over the years that have contributed to his lack of popularity at a particular tournament. He is an excellent player. More often than not, he’ll be on my squad,” he continued.
De Villiers also admitted that his omission might have been influenced by off-field considerations, which are taken into account by selectors when they make a “50-50 call between two players.”
“When I go back to my time as captain, I would always choose the player I felt offered more off the pitch from a team standpoint if there was a 50/50 call between two players. I’m not talking about Shreyas here. When it’s 50/50 on the pitch, you need to start examining other aspects, such as if he contributes to the team room. Does his face have a smile on it? Does he encourage some of his fellow players? Or is he depleting the team’s energies in some way? De Villiers came to the conclusion that it might be related to that.
Despite impressive performances in the Champions Trophy 2025, the IPL 2025, and the ODI series against England, Shreyas Iyer was unable to secure a spot in India’s team (15 players plus five standby players). In December 2023, he made his final appearance in a T20I.
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