As the BCCI announced the Indian team for the forthcoming Asia Cup on Tuesday in Mumbai, the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer was the biggest talking point.
After scoring a brilliant half-century in a victory over Australia in December 2023, Shreyas Iyer was unable to secure a spot in the shortest format, and his impressive run in the early months of this year, which included the IPL 2025, did not alter the situation.
Asked about Iyer’s omission, Agarkar said, “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.”
For the competition where Suryakumar would lead the team, Shubman Gill, the Test captain, was named vice-captain.
Gill, who played his last Twenty20 match at Pallekele against Sri Lanka in 2024, has taken Axar Patel’s spot as Suryakumar’s deputy.
“Gill’s form in England was something we expected but he exceeded it all. There are more options (for top order) now and Shubman has been in a great form anyway. When they get to Dubai, they can decide on the playing XI according to the opposition and the conditions,” Agarkar said.
“Like I said, he (Gill) was (the) vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup so even at that point, clearly we were thinking along those lines.
“Now that he’s available, at least he (Suryakumar) has two options. It’s their headache to pick the batting lineup (now); ours was to pick the 15 and so. But we’ve got some real depth as far as T20 cricket is concerned and we are very active with it,” he noted.
Agarkar called it regrettable that Yashaswi Jaiswal did not make the cut.
“It’s unfortunate, with regards to Jaiswal, with Abhishek Sharma in the mix and he can bowl a little bit as well. It’s unfortunate Jaiswal has had to miss out,” he added.
