Shreyas Iyer 'declined' captaincy, expected to be picked in Asia Cup squad: Report

Right-handed Mumbai batter Shreyas Iyer was the first choice to lead the West Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy, beginning August 28. However, the 30-year-old turned down the request as he was expecting to be picked in the Asia Cup squad. According to a report in The Times of India, Shreyas turned down the offer made by West Zone selectors, and hence, they went ahead with Shardul Thakur as the skipper. Shreyas Iyer wasn't even named in the reserves list for the Asia Cup. (AFP)

The 15-member Asia Cup squad was announced earlier this week. Shreyas Iyer failed to make the cut despite setting the stage on fire in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Punjab Kings, leading them to the final after 11 years and scoring 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.

Shreyas Iyer wasn't even named in the five standbys list. This call to leave out the in-form batter continues to polarise opinion, and several former players have criticised the Ajit Agarkar-led committee for leaving out a player of Shreyas' calibre.

The right-handed batter might have turned down the captaincy request; however, he is available for the inter-zonal tournament.

“Yes, it's true Iyer turned down the offer from the West Zone selection committee to captain the team. After that, the chairman of the committee, Sanjay Patil, who is also the Mumbai chief selector, approached Thakur to lead West Zone, an opportunity that Thakur gladly accepted,” Times of India quoted a source as saying.

Also Read: Sanjay Manjrekar blasts Ajit Agarkar for 'seriously wronging' Shreyas Iyer to accommodate Shubman Gill

The same report states that Iyer was expecting a T20I call-up and hence he had begun his white-ball training with his personal coach, Pravin Amre, at the MCA indoor facility in Bandra-Kurla Complex and the Cricket Club of India.

West Zone to play semi-finals

The West Zone will directly play the semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy from September 4-7 at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. It remains to be seen whether Shreyas will now be included in the Test squad for the home series against the West Indies, beginning October 2.

Both Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair failed to grab their chances with both hands in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England. There is a strong case for Iyer to be included; however, it remains to be seen whether the selectors reward him with a Test call-up.

For this to happen, Iyer definitely needs to break the door down in the Duleep Trophy semi-final. Shreyas last played a Test for India in 2024 against England.

However, midway through the series, Shreyas failed to turn up for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, leading to his removal from the contract list. However, months later, he was included back in the list, owing to strong performances in white-ball cricket.

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