Sports Desk, New Delhi. Many cricketers have expressed surprise at Shreyas Iyer not getting a place in the Indian team selected for Asia Cup 2025. Now former South African captain AB de Villiers has also joined this list.

He has expressed surprise at Shreyas Iyer not being included in the Indian team for the tournament to be held in UAE. He called this decision strange and said that there is no cricket related reason behind it.

The bat was in IPL

Iyer-led Punjab Kings reached the final of IPL 2025. However, they had to face defeat at the hands of RCB in the decisive match. Shreyas also batted brilliantly in IPL 2025. He played 17 matches in the 18th season. During this, the Punjab captain scored 604 runs at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 175.07.

Scored runs in the Champions Trophy

Seeing Iyer's performance, it was being speculated that he would definitely get a chance in the Asia Cup 2025 team. He also played an important role in India's Champions Trophy win earlier this year. Iyer was the highest run-scorer among Indian batsmen in the tournament. He scored 243 runs in 5 matches. Captain Rohit Sharma also praised Iyer a lot.

He has become quite mature

De Villiers said during a live chat on X that he was surprised by this oversight. It's tough, guys. I was just reviewing the team. I was wondering where we could fit Shreyas? I think Shreyas will bother the most because he has played very good cricket in the last few years. He has become quite mature, he has shown many leadership qualities. But who knows what is going on behind closed doors? Not me, not you guys. Maybe even Shreyas doesn't know."

Hasn't played T20I since 2023

The former Proteas captain suggested that non-cricketing factors may have influenced the decision. Sometimes when it's a 50-50 call between two players, I always pick the guy who uplifts the other players." Iyer hasn't played a T20I since December 2023.

"Maybe there are too many captains out there. I have no idea, but to me it's strange that such a good player is not able to find a place in the team, especially considering the leadership ability he brings. Maybe one day the truth will come out and we will know why Shreyas is struggling to find a place in Team India," de Villiers said.