Shreyas Iyer's omission from India's squad for Asia Cup 2025 has been one of the biggest talking points ever since Ajit Agarkar named the team. Many were left shocked by the fact that Iyer was left out from the 15-member team especially after having a stellar IPL campaign with the Punjab Kings earlier this year.
On the other hand, despite having not played for India in the T20I format since July 2024, Shubman Gill was added to the Asia Cup squad and was also made the vice-captain of the side. The selectors likely came to this decision after seeing Gill's performance as captain in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Tiwary believes Iyer will be India's next ODI captain
Though Iyer wasn't selected in the squad for the continental tournament, former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary backed the 30-year-old to eventually succeed Rohit Sharma and become the Men in Blue's captain in ODIs in the future. He further remarked that Iyer wasn't given the credit that he deserved after he led the Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title in 2024.
"After Rohit Sharma, obviously, I would say Shreyas Iyer, because the way he has led, wherever he has led in franchise cricket, I have not seen him in first-class cricket, but he has also won a trophy for Mumbai in domestic cricket as well," Tiwary said on CricTracker.
"But when I was doing commentary, I observed the evolution of Shreyas Iyer as a captain. He is one of those who lead from the front, he scores a lot of runs, and he makes great decisions on the field, which is a must for a good captain. He has done that successfully, as we saw during his KKR tenure," he added.
Tiwary also claimed that thanks to PR, Gautam Gambhir took the credit of taking KKR to the IPL title while Iyer didn't get the recognition he deserved. Tiwary didn't stop there and went on to say that Gambhir prefers Gill over Iyer and this can eventually lead to a fight.
"In 2024, KKR emerged as champions under his captaincy, but he didn't get the credit he deserved. The PR machinery worked in such a way that the credit was given to only one individual in the team. I felt he should also have got recognition, along with Chandrakant Pandit and Bharat Arun. They were the supporting staff, while he was the leader making the calls on the field," Tiwary stated.
"I feel Shreyas Iyer will eventually lead Team India, and he will lead for a long period of time. But at the same time, he will be fighting this captaincy battle with Shubman Gill because the current coach, Gautam Gambhir, likes Shubman Gill more than Shreyas Iyer. So there will be a fight. But let's see what the future unfolds for all of us," he added.
India's squad for Asia Cup 2025: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.