India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir offered a sharp response when questioned about Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from the upcoming England Test tour. When a reporter inquired about Iyer’s omission from the squad, Gambhir plainly stated that he is not part of the selection panel.
Iyer, 30, remains a regular in India’s ODI setup but hasn’t featured in the Test side since February 2024. His underwhelming performance in the first two Tests of the previous England series led to his exclusion from the remaining matches. Despite that, Iyer impressed in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 480 runs in six matches at an average of 68.57.
During an interaction at the Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial Cricket Tournament, when asked about Iyer’s absence from the England tour, the 43-year-old Gambhir responded:
“Main selector nahin hoon.” (I’m not the selector).
Reporter:- "Why was Shreyas Iyer not selected for the England tour?"
Gautam Gambhir:- "I am not the selector"
For your information, Gambhir was the first coach in Indian cricket history who sat in the selection meeting,And now he is saying that I am not the selector pic.twitter.com/V74yfW7jGk
— A// (@AdityaGurjar76) May 28, 2025
Following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket, Shubman Gill has been named captain for the upcoming tour of England. With Virat Kohli also stepping away from the format, Gill is expected to take the No. 4 spot in the batting order. The squad sees the return of Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur, along with the inclusion of uncapped players B Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Arshdeep Singh.
Gautam Gambhir And Shreyas Iyer Worked Together In IPL 2024
Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer had joined forces at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during IPL 2024, with Gambhir taking on the role of mentor and Iyer leading the team as captain. Their partnership proved successful, as KKR clinched their third IPL title.
Despite the triumph, KKR chose not to retain Iyer, and Gambhir moved on from the franchise after being appointed as India’s new head coach, replacing Rahul Dravid. Interestingly, Iyer now has a shot at another title—this time with the Punjab Kings.
Under his leadership, the team has reached the playoffs for the first time since 2014. They are set to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 on Thursday, May 29, in Mullanpur.
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