'Gambhir doesn’t select, he only rejects': Ex-India star's blunt take on Shreyas Iyer Test snub

Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from the Indian squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against England has left a lot of people scratching their heads. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma hanging up their boots, there were two spots open in the team, and the BCCI decided to go with Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair. Sudharsan earned his place thanks to an impressive IPL season, while Nair shone in both the Ranji Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Iyer, on the other hand was in fantastic form himself racking up over 500 runs in IPL 2025 yet he still didn’t make the cut.

The mystery surrounding Iyer's omission has sparked plenty of questions, especially since the reasons behind it remain unclear. When India’s coach Gautam Gambhir was asked about Iyer's exclusion, he gave a rather straightforward response, saying, "Main selector nahi hoon," which means 'I am not the selector.' This comment didn’t sit well with former cricketer Atul Wassan, who humorously jabbed at Gambhir, saying, 'Gambhir doesn’t select players; he only rejects.'

Wassan pointed out that the Indian selection process does involve the coach, and his opinions are considered before the final squad is announced. During the 12th episode of Bails and Banter on the OTTplay app, he mentioned, "The coach plays a role in team selection, and selectors do take their input into account before finalizing the squad."

However, Atul also defended Gambhir, asserting that the coach has every right to choose the players he prefers.

While the BCCI hasn’t disclosed the reason for Iyer's exclusion, there’s speculation that his past struggles with short balls and deliveries that move might have led the selectors to seek out more technically proficient batters suited for English conditions.

India's squad for England tour

Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk/vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

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