“Yes, Shreyas Iyer had a good one-day series, has played well in domestic cricket, but at the moment, there is no room for him in the Test team,” said Ajit Agarkar, chief selector of India’s men’s cricket team, during the squad announcement for the England tour.
Agarkar was referring to a side that had just lost Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, after the duo announced their retirements from Test cricket within a few days of each other.
For perspective, Iyer scored 480 runs at an average of 68.57 in seven innings during the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy season. The Ranji Trophy is India’s premier first-class championship – in other words, red-ball cricket. His white-ball scores are similarly impressive, if not better.
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Meanwhile, Agarkar’s comments on Sarfaraz Khan’s exclusion, while including Karun Nair in the scheme of things, painted a rather contradictory picture. “It’s fair on somebody, it’s unfair on someone else,” he said. “At the moment, he [Karun Nair] has scored heaps of runs. He has played a bit of county cricket.”
The additional remark — “With Virat not there, clearlywe’re lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help” — only added fuel to the fire. The management seemed to view Karun as Kohli’s middle-order replacement.
Now, there is no debating Karun’s inclusion. He fully deserves his call-up based on the form he has exhibited onthe domestic circuit, playing for Vidarbha. He scored 863 runs in nine Ranji games at an average of 53.94, helping Vidarbha lift the title in the process. However, a player who last featured in a Test match for India in 2017 is being preferred over one who played his last Test as recently as February of last year.
In addition to the form Iyer has shown with the bat, he has been excelling as a leader in every tournament he’s participated in as well. First, he led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the Indian Premier League title (IPL) in 2024. He then captained Mumbai to victory in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024–25. Now, he has taken the Punjab Kings to the playoffs in the ongoing IPL season — their first appearance since 2014. That kind of leadership presence in England could be valuable for the rather inexperienced Shubman Gill, should he require any assistance.
Furthermore, when Iyer was asked to return to the domestic circuit after losing his central contract, he put his head down and worked on his weaknesses, most notably his struggles against the short ball. By adjusting his footwork and timing, he has now corrected his tendency to shift towards the leg side, instead opting to stay deep in his crease.
A similar scenario played out during preparations for the Champions Trophy 2025. Iyer, who had been a mainstay of India’s One–Day side, was benched in favour of YashasviJaiswal, with Gill slotted in at No. 3. Iyer was drafted in only due to an untimely injury to Kohli, but he silenced his critics with a blistering 36-ball 59, guiding India to victory in the opening match of the three-game bilateral series against England.
Once seen as a potential captain, Shreyas was sent back to domestic cricket and asked to grind his way back into contention. Despite doing exactly that, he remains out of the reckoning for both the Test and T20I sides. That said, Shreyas has consistently shown that his comebacks are stronger than his setbacks. Whether he will break back into the Test side remains uncertain — but India will certainly miss his experience and character in England.
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