AB de Villiers calls Iyer’s Asia Cup omission ‘weird’, hints at team-player concerns

New Delhi: South African batting great AB de Villiers found it “weird” that a batter of Shreyas Iyer's calibre has been left out of India’s Asia Cup squad and tried second guessing if his omission could be linked to what the batter could bring to the table for the team off the field.

Iyer, who had an impressive domestic season and also led his IPL franchise Punjab Kings into the final by scoring more than 600 runs at a strike-rate of 170 plus, failed to find a place in the 15-member squad announced earlier this week.

"It is tough, guys. I was just going through the squad. I was thinking, where can we fit Shreyas in, because I've seen all the headlines and some fans being upset. I think Shreyas will be the most upset because he's played some really good cricket over the last few years," De Villiers said during a live chat with cricket fans on X.

"He's matured a lot. He has shown a lot of leadership qualities, but who knows what is going on behind closed doors? No one. Not me. Not you guys.

"Maybe not even Shreyas knows. But there might be a few things that have taken place over the years that have determined why he's not the flavour of the month for a certain tournament. He's a quality player. He'll be in my team more often than not." Iyer, who has played 51 T20Is for India, has scored 1104 runs at an average of 30.66 and a strike rate of 136.12. His last appearance in the format came against Australia in December 2023.

The Mumbai batter also has a strong leadership record in the IPL, guiding Delhi Capitals to the playoffs in 2019 and to their maiden final in 2020, before steering KKR to the title in 2024.

Reflecting on his own experience as a former skipper, De Villiers said: "Sometimes, and I'm not talking about Shreyas now, but sometimes, thinking about when I was captaining, if there's a 50-50 call between two players, I would always lean towards the guy that I feel offers more from a team perspective off the field.

"When it's 50-50 on the field, you have to start looking at other areas, like does he add value in the team room? Does he have a smile on his face? Does he uplift some of the other players around him? Or is he sort of draining energy from the squad? Maybe it has something to do with that.

"I'm just honestly taking a complete guess. Of course, it is weird to me, a quality player like that, not making the starting squad for Team India, especially with the leadership qualities he's bringing. Maybe it will be too much of a clash with him there," added de Villiers.

De Villiers suggested his omission could be down to the presence of “too many leaders” in the squad.

"Maybe there are too many leaders there, too many captains. I have no idea, to be honest. I was just trying to explain to you what I would think. If there's a 50-50 call, you would always lean towards the guy that you feel will bring the best out in other players," said de Villiers.

"So, a team player kind of call. That's my best guess. I'm not saying it's true. Make up your own mind. Actually, ask more questions about it and let me know what you think.

"Maybe the truth will come out one day, and we'll know exactly why Shreyas is struggling to get into Team India starting line-ups or squads at least."