‘He backs the players he likes’: Gautam Gambhir accused of favouritism by former India player after Shreyas Iyer snub

Former India cricketer Sadagoppan Ramesh has openly accused head coach Gautam Gambhir of favouritism after Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from the 2025 Asia Cup squad. Iyer, who had a dream IPL 2025 season with Punjab Kings, for whom he scored more than 600 runs as captain and also took them to the final, has been ignored for the ACC tournament despite his strong form.

Gautam Gambhir slammed for not picking Shreyas Iyer

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ramesh did not hold back in his criticism of Gambhir, who, along with chief selector Ajit Agarkar, is being criticised for not picking Shreyas Iyer . Agarkar and India’s T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav unveiled the Asia Cup squad earlier this week, where Iyer’s snub became the biggest talking point as he was expected to be picked after his recent heroics in the shortest format.

“He backs the players he likes but completely lets go of those he doesn’t,” Ramesh said, pointing out that Iyer had previously delivered match-winning performances in the UAE during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and deserved a place in the team. Ramesh further explained that form and confidence should be rewarded immediately.

“Shreyas Iyer produced incredible performances in the same UAE in the Champions Trophy and should be a permanent fixture in India’s white-ball teams. Players need to be backed when they are high on confidence and in form and not when they fade away and lack confidence. This is the ideal time to reap the rewards of Iyer’s sky-high confidence and form,” he added.

The former opener also took a dig at Gambhir’s overall record as coach. He said that India’s recent drawn series in England is being celebrated only because the team has struggled in Tests lately. Before going to England, India lost two back-to-back Test series under Gambhir’s coaching, including a home series against New Zealand.

“The drawn series in England looks like a great achievement only because we performed poorly in Test cricket over the past year. Because winning consistently abroad had started long back under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri. But now, just the drawn series in England gets looked at as a big achievement in Gambhir’s track record,” Ramesh added.

This is not the first time Iyer has been ignored in Gambhir’s era as head coach. The Mumbai cricketer was expected to be picked for the England Test series but didn’t get a chance in the squad. Gambhir and the Indian team management went with Karun Nair instead. Meanwhile, Iyer isn’t even on the reserve list for the Asia Cup and it is unlikely he will get a chance even in case of a last-minute injury.