Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from India's Asia Cup 2025 squad sparked debate, following the Punjab Kings skipper's inspired leadership and batting, which led them to the Indian Premier League final recently.
It was heavily reported that the batter could make the cut for the competition over Rinku Singh, who had a sub-par season with the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders.
However, despite all the criticism targeted towards the Indian coaches and selectors, Lucknow Super Giants' assistant coach, Vijay Dahiya has backed the decision-makers for the Iyer snub.
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Here's what he had to say.
Dahiya backs Gambhir and co. as Iyer snub sparks debate
Dahiya, who has previously worked with Gambhir at LSG, has represented India in two Tests and 19 ODIs between 2000 and 2001. Hailing from the same state of Delhi, the duo has also shared dressing rooms in domestic cricket.
While speaking to Sports Yaari on August 28, Dahiya felt the selectors and coaches sometimes need to make tough decisions, where a player is preferred over another, as he felt the team is good enough to win the Asia Cup.
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"It doesn't matter what I say or what I expect. We have a very experienced chairman with us, along with a captain and a coach involved. Before I talk about all this, I would like to say that whenever an Indian team is formed, there will always be a player who faces such discussions," said Dahiya.
"The way people are feeling right now is because of the successful IPL that Shreyas Iyer had. Everyone felt he should have been an automatic choice in white-ball cricket. That is why people are more disappointed," he added.
Dahiya further urged fans and experts to back the Indian squad, which has been picked for the competition beginning from September 9.
India will start their Asia Cup title defence with their clash against the United Arab Emirates on September 10, followed by the big match against Pakistan on September 14 and the last group A match against Oman on September 19.
Considering India needed a lower-middle order batter, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee decided to give Rinku Singh a longer rope, while the rest of the squad picked themselves.
What is India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025?
Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh