New Delhi: Shreyas Iyer was among the notable absentees as the Ajit Agarkar-led senior men’s selection panel announced India’s squad for the upcoming Test series against England on Saturday, May 24. Shubman Gill has been appointed as India’s new captain in Tests, with Rishabh Pant selected as his deputy. Gill will lead the team’s charge in their first major Test assignment in England following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
There were no major surprises in India’s Test squad for the England series as Karun Nair made his comeback to the national team in the longest format after 8 years, courtesy of his impressive show in the domestic circuit. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel also handed maiden Test call-ups to left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and left-arm batter Sai Sudharsan.
Shardul Thakur also made his comeback to the Test team while the selectors picked both Prasidh Krishana and Akash Deep in the pace attack along with Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah in the absence of senior pacer Mohammed Shami. Sarfaraz Khan was snubbed from the 18-man squad along with his Mumbai teammate Iyer, who has done well across all formats over the past year.
No room for Shreyas Iyer in Test cricket: Ajit Agarkar
When asked for the reason behind Iyer’s absence from India’s Test squad for the England series, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said there is currently no room for Iyer in the longest format despite his strong show in all formats. Agarkar acknowledged Iyer’s good form in ODIs for India and Mumbai in the domestic circuit, but cited the intense competition in India’s Test squad as the reason behind his non-selection.
“Shreyas had a good one-day series, played well in domestic as well, but right now there’s no room in Test cricket,” said Agarkar.
Iyer, who has worked on his shortcomings against the short ball, his technique and his approach in batting, has done exceptionally well for Mumbai over the last few months. He scored 452 runs in five matches for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy at a brilliant average of 90.22, including two centuries. Iyer smashed 325 runs for Mumbai in five matches at a mind-blogging average of 325, including two centuries.
Iyer continued his fine form in the Syed Muhstaq Ali Trophy, where he notched up 345 runs at a strike rate of 188.52 to help Mumbai lift the title. Iyer was the highest run-getter for India in the Champions Trophy 2025 with 243 runs in 5 matches and played a key role in their title triumph.
He has also been enjoying a prolific run for Punjab Kings in the ongoing IPL 2025 with 435 runs in 12 matches at a strike rate of 174.69, including 4 fifties. However, despite his purple patch with the bat across competitions, Iyer has been ignored from India’s Test squad at a time when the team is in dire need of experience in the middle order.
India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained the reason behind Shreyas Iyer’s absence from India’s Test squad for the England series. Iyer was snubbed from India’s 18-man squad despite having done well across formats. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
