'I feel you are never...': Shreyas Iyer opens up on how rejection helped him grow as a player amidst debate around his Asia Cup snub

Following his exclusion from India's Asia Cup 2025 squad, India's star batter Shreyas Iyer spoke about the mindset shift that has helped him grow, both as a player and as an individual. Iyer was recently named captain of the India A team for the upcoming red-ball series against Australia A, also appeared to take a subtle jab at Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir.

Stop giving a shit about what people think about you: Shreyas Iyer

Fans speculations and multiple reports have indicated that not everything is good between Gambhir and Iyer. There is a notion that suggested that a rift between Gambhir and Iyer, stemming from their time together at the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2024 IPL season, may be the reason for Iyer's consistent absence from the senior national team.

In response to this speculation, Iyer stressed on the importance of ignoring external opinions and focusing on personal development. He stated that he no longer cares about what others think and that freeing himself from those worries has allowed him to concentrate on improving his game and pushing his own boundaries.

"Stop giving a shit about what people think about you. Period. Once you have that mindset, you will keep working on yourself. I keep learning every day. I feel that you are never perfect as an individual, so keep learning, and knowledge is eternal. I always look forward to transcending beyond my abilities and learning every single day,” Shreyas Iyer said on IQOO India's 'The Qest Talk' podcast.

“There have been phases in my life. It's not like I went straight and started thinking like this, but obviously there have been rejections. There have been failures. There have been ups and downs. Life has been like a roller coaster ride. So, through all these, I've learned so much,” he further added.

Iyer might not be there in the Asia Cup squad but he has been appointed captain of the India A squad for the upcoming two unofficial Tests against Australia A which is scheduled to start from September 16.

India A squad:

Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (VC & WK), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur
"Note: KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj will be added to the squad for the 2nd multi-day match and will replace two players in the squad after the 1st multi-day match," BCCI's statement read.

Currently Shreyas Iyer is participating in the Duleep Trophy semifinal between West Zone and Central Zone. However, he couldn't do much with the bat in both the innings. In the first innings he could only score 25, while in the second he was dismissed after notching up just 12.