'There is no room for him': Ajit Agarkar's straightforward take on Shreyas Iyer's snub from England tour

No Shreyas Iyer for India-England Tests: Ajit Agarkar reveals the real reason. (Photo: BCCI)

India announced their new-age Test team on Saturday, that will be visiting England for a highly anticipated five-Test series that would begin at Leeds on June 20. The team's skipper would be Shubman Gill, who will have large shoes to fill in both as a batsman and as a leader, possibly replacing Virat Kohli at number four.

India seems to be lacking an experienced middle order batsman in an otherwise inexperienced batting lineup that includes guys like Sai Sudharsan and perhaps Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Also Read - 'It is not up to me...': Agarkar breaks silence on Kohli-Rohit retirement as India enters Gill-era

An example of this would be Shreyas Iyer, who was considered prior to the announcement but did not make the team. In response to a question concerning Iyer's possible position for the Test team, the former India bowler told reporters that despite his strong domestic performance, it was difficult to get him into the 18-man squad.

In response to a journalist's question on Iyer's strong performance in the Ranji Trophy and other domestic cricket formats, Agarkar stated that the batter will only be taken into consideration for One Day International (ODI) series.

"Yeah, Shreyas Iyer has played well in domestic cricket as well, but at the moment, there is no room for him in the Test team. If he keeps doing what he is doing, then he might find a spot at some stage," he said.

Also Read - Jasprit Bumrah pulled himself out of India Test captaincy race? Report claims pacer told BCCI...

Iyer has amassed 811 runs at an average of 36.86 in 14 Test matches, including five fifties and a century, since his last Test match against England in Visakhapatnam in 2024.

Alongside Ravichandran Ashwin, he helped India win the match from 74/7 at one point in 2022 when he scored 87(105) in the first innings and a vital 29*(46) in a 145-run chase against Bangladesh in Mirpur.

India squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Redddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhurv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav.