India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir offered a fiery response when questioned about the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer from the Indian Test squad for the upcoming England tour. The former cricketer made it clear that team selections are not under his control.
Gambhir was asked why Iyer was not picked for the five-match Test series in England, which begins on June 20. “Main selector nahin hoon (I am not the selector),” said Gambhir at the Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial Cricket Tournament.
Iyer, who has been a regular member of India’s ODI setup, has not featured in the Test team since February 2024. His performance in the first two Tests against England likely contributed to his exclusion from the remaining matches. After that, he scored 480 runs at an average of 68.57 across six games in the Ranji Trophy.
Notably, Gambhir and Iyer linked at IPL 2024, with Gambhir mentoring the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Iyer captaining the side. Their partnership proved successful and KKR clinched their third IPL title. But, both have moved on, as the 30-year-old was not retained by the franchise while Gambhir took over as India’s head coach following Rahul Dravid’s tenure.
Currently, Iyer is leading the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2025 and has guided them to their first playoff appearance since 2014. PBKS will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 on May 29 in Mullanpur.
As for the Indian Test team, Rohit Sharma retiring from red-ball cricket and Virat Kohli also stepping away from the format, Shubman Gill has been handed the captaincy and is expected to bat at the No. 4 position. The squad also sees the return of Shardul Thakur and Karun Nair, along with the inclusion of uncapped players like Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Arshdeep Singh.
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