India's Asia Cup Squad: Cricket commentator Aakash Chopra threw his weight behind the opinion, stating that Shreyas Iyer should have at least been named in the reserve players list of players picked for the Asia Cup. Iyer was a revelation in the IPL as he smashed 604 runs at a piping strike rate of 175 in IPL 2025. Also, he led Punjab Kings to the final, where they lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Despite making a mark in all departments, Iyer failed to find a place in the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup as well as the five reserve players list.

Former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar expressed his frustration as Chopra joined him echoing his opinion.

"Shreyas' name is not even there in the five reserves, and that is surprising. Understandably, you couldn't have him in the 15 as you can't play him in the XI, and you wanted lower-order batters as backup, where Shivam Dube is there, and Rinku Singh will be given another chance, which is absolutely par for the course."

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"However, a place could have been created in the reserve players at least, where you have kept Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Prasidh Krishna. Shreyas' name could have been there, but you haven't kept it there either, and that doesn't send a great signal. The clarity in front of Shreyas' name is completely not there," said Chopra on his YouTube channel on Wednesday.

Chopra also affirmed that Iyer has a chance to make it to India's squad for the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup provided considering his performance in the ODI format.

"Shreyas Iyer not being there is a big story. What more will Shreyas Iyer have to do? What more can you do than what you have already done? You had a 600-plus run IPL season, took the team to the final, scored runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, played Ranji, and won the Champions Trophy. That's all you can do as a human being. This is the Asia Cup team. Don't attach the World Cup with it because there are 15 T20Is after this. The world changes in 15 T20Is. If he keeps scoring runs in ODIs, sooner or later, Shreyas Iyer will be part of the team. I have a strong feeling that Shreyas Iyer will be a part of India's T20 World Cup team," he added.

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How Shreyas Iyer Is Not Even In Reserves: Nayar

"I don't know, actually, I wanted to ask that question — aapke reserve players mein kaise nahi hai woh, if he is such a strong contender. Sometimes, you know, selection meetings can be quite interesting, and the discussions that happen in them can be very interesting," Nayar said on Star Sports.