Former India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath has slammed chief selector Ajit Agarkar for not favoring Shreyas Iyer for the Asia Cup 2025. Badrinath said Agarkar took an easy route by calling Iyer’s snub unlucky.

“It is not Shreyas Iyer fault, nor it is ours. You can pick 15, and he will have to wait for his chance,” Agarkar said.

Badrinath replied to Agarkar’s remark. “Shreyas Iyer deserved to play. Ajit Agarkar called him unlucky but that is just a convenient route. Iyer has been magnificent over the last two years. They went with Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh. Last year, these two didn’t do anything with the bar,” he said.

Having accumulated 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07 in IPL 2025 while taking Punjab Kings to the final, he was expected to be a part of the T20I team. However, the selectors didn’t pick him and ignored him for the reserve category, which has five names.

“This is not a 50-50 decision as Shreyas Iyer should have got the call. Although he batted at No.3 for Punjab Kings, he can be a consistent performer at No.5 for India,” he added.

“With no Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the team, Iyer’s experience and leadership would have helped the team,” he mentioned.