Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his displeasure after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer were not included in the Asia Cup squad, which was announced on Tuesday. Jaiswal is among the stand-by players along with Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna and Riyan Parag.
Surprisingly, Iyer is not even included in the stand-by players list. Iyer scored 604 runs in 17 matches at an average of 50.33 and a blistering strike rate of 175.07. Ergo, he played an instrumental role in taking PBKS to the final of the tournament.
On the other hand, Jaiswal scored 559 runs in 14 matches of IPL 2025 for Rajasthan Royals at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 159.71. The southpaw was also India’s back-up opener in the 2024 T20 World Cup and last played in July 2024 for India.
Ashwin said he is happy that Shubman Gill has been included in the squad. Gill scored 650 runs in IPL 2025 at an average of 50 for the Gujarat Titans.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “Genuinely, genuinely, the selection of Shubman Gill is okay. He has been announced as the vice-captain as well. All that aside, as a player, he has also made a lot of runs. He has scored a lot of runs for the Gujarat Titans. He has the credentials to be selected for the team. Selections have always been debatable, if you look at the last 20 years, 30 years.”
“When selections happen, everyone discusses, ’this could have happened, that could have happened.’ This has always been the case. But this thing, the credential that a player built, the stability that you had with the player. When you have Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, everybody went to a World Cup and triumphed there, and when you have Jaiswal as your third opener, to remove a player from a World Cup-winning squad, you have brought Shubman Gill into the team. I am happy for Shubman, but I am very, very, very sad for Shreyas and Yashasvi Jaiswal. It is just not fair to both those kids,” he added.
Ashwin questioned Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion as the Mumbai batter has performed consistently.
“I know you have maps forward, but what does Shreyas Iyer lack? He’s won an IPL with KKR. KKR missed an opportunity by releasing him into the auction. He took a team like the Punjab Kings, which last qualified in 2014, a guy with such strong leadership and batting skills, batting at number three. He is not batting like the Shreyas Iyer of 2017 or 2018.”
“There is so much difference in his game. We were saying he had issues with the short ball, which even I noticed. He’s hitting the likes of Kagiso Rabada 20-30 rows back at the Narendra Modi Stadium. He’s hitting the likes of Bumrah down the ground. I am very, very, very sad for both of them,” Ashwin added.
India, eight-time Asia Cup champions, open their campaign against the UAE at the Dubai International Stadium on September 10.
