Gautam Gambhir Accused Of Not Honouring 'Yashasvi Jaiswal' Statement, Faces Wrath Over Asia Cup Call

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has criticised head coach Gautam Gambhir over the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal from the Asia Cup 2025 squad. Speaking to news agency ANI, Tiwary expressed his shock over the call to exclude Jaiswal and Iyer, saying that both the batters deserved a place in the team. Chairman of the selection panel, Ajit Agarkar, explained that the decision to leave out Jaiswal and Iyer was mainly due to the abundance of talent in the format.

However, Tiwary recalled Gambhir's remark on Jaiswal from a few years ago where had desribed him as an all-format player.

Expressing his views on the exclusion of Iyer and Jaiswal, Tiwary said, "Two deserving candidates, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal, have not been able to make it to the team... If you see old videos of Gautam Gambhir, he had said that Yashasvi Jaiswal is such a player that we cannot think of keeping him out of T-20. Now that he himself is the coach, there is no place for Shreyas Iyer in the team. Shreyas Iyer's performance is the best if you look at the last year... It's eye-opening that he didn't get a place in the T20... The selection process should be made live so that sports lovers know who has been selected and why..."

Jaiswal is not in the main squad, but rather in the reserves group alongside all-rounder Washington Sundar, all-rounder Riyan Parag, pacer Prasidh Krishna and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Iyer, on the other hand, was completely ignored by the selectors.

Rumours have been circulating that Iyer might become India's next ODI, with the decision likely to be announced after the Asia Cup.

However, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, while speaking to Hindustan Times, played down the rumours.

"That's news to me. There have been no such discussions," said Saikia.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Shreyas Iyer Yashasvi Jaiswal Manoj Tiwary Gautam Gambhir Asia Cup 2025 Cricket