Gautam Gambhir, India&#8217;s new head coach, explained why he didn&#8217;t select Shreyas Iyer for the upcoming Test tour of England. During an event at the Goswami Ganesh Dutt Memorial Cricket Tournament, a reporter asked about Iyer&#8217;s absence from the team.
Gambhir was straightforward in his response, saying, &#8220;Main selector nahin hoon&#8221; (I’m not the selector), which made it clear that he doesn&#8217;t have a say in team selections.
Shreyas Iyer, 30, has consistently played in limited-overs formats for India but hasn&#8217;t participated in a test since February 2024. His earlier performances in the England Test series this year weren&#8217;t great, which led to his removal from the squad. Still, he showed his talent in domestic cricket, amassing 480 runs in six Ranji Trophy matches, averaging a notable 68.57.
<h2 data-start="968" data-end="1020">Gautam Gambhir, Shreyas Iyer, and Major Selection Shake-Ups</h2>
<figure id="attachment_152327" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-152327" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-152327" src="http://www.kreedon.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/download-19-2.jpeg" alt="indian test squad" width="300" height="168" srcset="https://www.kreedon.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/download-19-2.jpeg 300w, https://www.kreedon.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/download-19-2-150x84.jpeg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-152327" class="wp-caption-text">Image: The Economic Times</figcaption></figure>
With <a href="https://www.kreedon.com/top-5-memorable-test-innings-by-rohit-sharma-before-his-test-retirement">Rohit Sharma</a> retiring from Test cricket and <a href="https://www.kreedon.com/top-5-memorable-test-innings-by-virat-kohli-before-his-test-retirement">Virat Kohli</a> stepping back from the format too, India&#8217;s Test cricket scene is undergoing some significant shifts. Shubman Gill is the new captain and will bat at the No. 4 position. The team includes some surprising recalls and fresh players. The team&#8217;s comeback includes <a href="https://www.kreedon.com/karun-nair-biography-triple-century-stats-family">Karun Nair</a> and <a href="https://www.kreedon.com/shardul-thakur-biography">Shardul Thakur,</a> and the addition of <a href="https://www.kreedon.com/sai-sudharsan-biography">B Sai Sudharsan,</a> Abhimanyu Easwaran, and <a href="https://www.kreedon.com/arshdeep-singh-net-worth-ipl-salary-and-future-prospects">Arshdeep Singh</a> signals a new direction for India&#8217;s test match strategy.
On another note, Gautam Gambhir and Iyer recently celebrated success in the IPL. Under Gambhir&#8217;s guidance as mentor, Iyer led the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkata_Knight_Riders">Kolkata Knight Riders</a> to their third IPL title in 2024. But despite their winning partnership, the franchise chose not to keep Iyer, and Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach of the Indian team, stepping in for Rahul Dravid.
Iyer isn’t out of the running for titles just yet. Now at the helm of the Punjab Kings, he’s made history by leading the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2014. They&#8217;ll be facing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Challengers_Bengaluru">Royal Challengers Bengaluru</a> in Qualifier 1 at Mullanpur on Thursday, May 29, with a chance to reach the IPL 2025 final at stake.
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Gautam Gambhir Breaks Silence on Shreyas Iyer’s Exclusion from England Tour