Although he believes Shreyas Iyer was unlucky to be left out of India’s Asia Cup team, former wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya stated that some players will always be left out because of the nation’s strong bench strength.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Iyer, who guided the Kolkata Knight Riders to the 2024 IPL championship, were left off of the BCCI’s newly announced 15-man India Cup squad, a move that several previous cricketers criticized.
Iyer guided Punjab Kings to just their second final in the lucrative IPL 2025, scoring over 600 runs at a strike rate of 175 throughout his outstanding season.
“Once the team is picked, we cannot say much about it. Whenever any Indian team is picked, some players will always miss out. The bench strength we have, we can field two separate teams but some players will always be left out,” Dahiya told PTI Videos. “But nothing much can be changed now, as he is not even part of the reserves as well. But yes, the way he has performed has made everyone think that he is missing.”
Beginning on September 9 in the United Arab Emirates, the Asia Cup will be played in T20 format.
Iyer has amassed 1104 runs at a strike rate of 136.12 at an average of 30.66 in 51 Twenty20 Internationals for India. In December 2023, he made his last appearance in the format against Australia.
In addition to leading the Delhi Capitals to the playoffs in 2019 and their first IPL final in 2020, the Mumbai batter led KKR to the championship last season.
But for the first time since the 2024 T20 World Cup, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah returned to India’s white-ball setup.
Due to injuries, Bumrah missed the ICC Champions Trophy and was rested from limited-overs duties. He has played only Test cricket since the T20 World Cup final last year.
Although he was happy to see Bumrah included, Dahiya believes the pacer may not play in every Asia Cup game in order to manage his workload. During India’s recent tour of England, which finished in a 2-2 draw, he participated in three of the five Test matches.
“I feel that there will be many such matches where he (Bumrah) might not play and feature only in those crunch matches, and we can manage his workload there,” noted Dahiya, who is currently the head coach of Delhi Premier League’s Purani Dilli 6 franchise.
In order to manage his workload following a demanding tour of England, Dahiya believes the pacer Mohammed Siraj was kept out of the Asia Cup squad.
“When you talk about the workload, then it’s not only for Bumrah, it is also for Siraj. He played all five Tests and the intensity with which he bowled was commendable. The effort and quality of fast bowling he displayed in England also could be the reason for his break,” he said.
Dahiya discussed India’s chances at the Asia Cup, predicting that the reigning champions will start as overwhelming favorites.
“There is not much threat in the Asia Cup for India but T20 is a format that changes quickly. India will lose only if we have a bad day or someone plays exceptional cricket.”
