Why Shreyas Iyer was snubbed from Test team? Chief selector Ajit Agarkar says, 'there's no room'

Shreyas Iyer was being tipped to be picked for India’s Test team after Virat Kohli retired from the longest format. Reports even said that Iyer might take Kohli’s No. 4 position in the batting line-up. But when BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming Test series against England, Iyer’s name was missing, and this surprised a lot of people.

Agarkar explains Iyer’s exclusion

India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained the reason in a press conference on Saturday. Agarkar said that even though Iyer has done well in one-day matches and domestic cricket, he still doesn’t fit into the Test team right now.

“Shreyas had a good one-day series, played well in domestic as well, but right now there’s no room in Test cricket,” Agarkar said when asked about Iyer’s exclusion.

Instead of Iyer, the selectors have given a chance to Karun Nair, who is making a comeback after eight years. Nair earned his spot by performing well in domestic games. Nair had scored a triple century in his last Test match against England and if he gets a chance to play, he will aim for it again.

Sai Sudharsan has also received his first-ever Test call-up. The young batter has been in good form and is likely to be included in the playing XI right away. Arshdeep Singh has also been included in the Test squad for the first time. Mohammed Shami, on the other hand, has missed out due to injury concerns.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has been named the new captain of the Indian team with Rishabh Pant as his deputy. Gill is now expected to take the No. 4 spot in the batting line-up and Sudharsan likely to replace him at No. 3. It will be interesting to see how the playing XI turns out to be for the first Test match in Headingley, Leeds, which is scheduled to begin on 20 June.

India’s squad for England series

India’s squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav