Bollywood Star backs Shreyas Iyer loudly after surprise snub from India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad

When the BCCI announced India's 15-member squad for the 2025 Asia Cup, cricket fans were impatiently refreshing their feeds to check who made it. Of course, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and other regulars made it, but there’s one name that has been surprisingly left out: Shreyas Iyer. The middle-order star, formerly in great form for both India and the IPL, did not make it to the squad, leaving fans confused and a bit angry.

The squad announcement, made by chief selector Ajit Agarkar, gave fans a clear picture of India’s Asia Cup strategy, but all anyone could talk about was Iyer’s absence. He is a batter who has proven time and again that he can handle the heat, whether it’s in crunch T20Is or the high-pressure IPL. Cricket experts and former players didn’t hold back either, pointing out that his recent form surely deserved at least a backup spot.

Support for Shreyas soon came from an unexpected corner. Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan, who’s a big cricket fan, took to Instagram to show his backing, sharing a heartfelt reel praising Iyer’s talent and dedication. Shreyas himself has kept quiet for now, probably letting his bat do the talking when he gets the next opportunity on the field.

Why Shreyas Iyer’s record speaks louder than his Asia Cup snub?

Shreyas Iyer's statistics are hard to argue with. He has over 1,100 runs in 47 innings in T20Is for an average of 30.66 and a high score of 74 not out. Yet, his reliability as a middle-order batter is not just down to his statistics; it is his ability to read the game and time his innings perfectly that makes him a supreme middle-order batter.

Iyer has performed incredibly well in the IPL. In 133 matches, he has scored 3,731 runs at an average of 34.23 with 27 fifties and a highest score of 97*. He also demonstrated character as he went on to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title in 2024. And then broke the IPL player record for the highest bought price in 2025, when Punjab Kings signed him for the staggering sum of INR 26.75 crore and didn’t disappoint by leading Punjab Kings to the IPL finals in his first year as captain.

Shreyas' exclusion from the Asia Cup squad despite all of his accomplishments has generated a lot of discussion among fans and cricket analysts. For many, it is not just simply statistics. It is about timing, talent, and knowing, indicating the men who can handle pressure when it matters most. In addition, with others like Varun Dhawan sticking up for him publicly, the chatter about Iyer being left out is not going to disappear anytime soon.