Shreyas Iyer was excluded from India's Test team once again when the squad for the England tour was announced last month.
However, India's head coach Gautam Gambhir, in a press conference on June 5, kept Iyer's hopes of a potential return to the Test side alive.
India are all set to begin the tour of England in a five-match Test series starting on June 20 under new captain Shubman Gill. This comes after veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirement from the longest format during IPL 2025.
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What did Gautam Gambhir say about Shreyas Iyer's India Test future?
The Indian head coach Gambhir, had a straightforward answer for a question on Iyer's absence in India's squad for the England Tests.
He did not rule out Iyer's return to the Indian Test team in the future, saying that he will be considered if he continues to perform well.
However, Gambhir also noted that only 18 players can be picked and that the best squad has been selected for the upcoming tour.
"Look, anyone who is performing can be included. At the end of the day, we can only pick 18 players. The other day, the Chairman of Selectors addressed it all."
Previously, Ajit Agarkar, who is BCCI's Chairman of Selectors, had responded to the same during an interaction with the media last month.
IND vs ENG Tests: What did Ajit Agarkar say about Shreyas Iyer's absence?
One of the journalists pressed Agarkar on Iyer's absence, questioning why Iyer had been excluded despite his consistent performances in the Ranji Trophy and domestic cricket.
In response, Agarkar was blunt in his initial response, stating that the batter will be considered only for the One Day International (ODI) team. Then, he went to add:
"Yeah, Shreyas Iyer has played well in domestic cricket as well, but at the moment, there is no room for him in the Test team. If he keeps doing what he is doing, then he might find a spot at some stage."
The management went ahead with picking Karun Nair as the middle-order option over Iyer. Fellow Mumbai batter, Sarfaraz Khan, who had travelled with the Test team, including the Australian tour, was also not picked for the England series.
India Test squad for England Tour 2025
Following is the squad selected by Ajit Agarkar and co. for the five-match series in England.
- Shubman Gill (c)
- Rishabh Pant (wk) (vc)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- KL Rahul
- Abhimanyu Easwaran
- Sai Sudharsan
- 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