In June, the Indian cricket team will travel to England for five Test matches. Last Saturday, the 18-member team, which elicited varied responses from supporters and the cricket community, was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The exclusion of Shreyas Iyer, who had a great showing in both domestic and international matches, was one of the most talked about subjects. The selectors were criticized for ignoring Shreyas' outstanding performance, and one reporter claimed that Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of the selectors, provided a thorough and comprehensive explanation.

Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from the Test team was also brought up to Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of Team India. "Main selector nahi hoon," which translates to "I am not the selector," was Gambhir's reply. The selection procedure does not include coaching staff, as shown by this response, which was really unexpected. In the twelfth episode of Bails and Banter on the OTTplay app, former Indian pacer Atul Wassan made a hilarious jab at the Indian coach, saying, "he doesn't select; he only rejects."

Atul Wassan: The coach is crucial in choosing the squad.

In response to Gambhir's remark, Wassan said that the team selection process is heavily influenced by the coach. "The coach has a role in team selection, and selectors also listen to them before naming the squad," he added.

In support of the Indian head coach, Wassan continued, "Sometimes the coach has to go with the feel of selecting his choice of players, irrespective of being right or wrong. If he (Gautam Gambhir) has been given this position, then I think he deserves to go with his feeling, whether it's right or wrong."

Iyer's India record is not as impressive, but by no means bad. With a century on debut against New Zealand, he has amassed 811 runs in 14 games, only to be followed by a half-century. Additionally, he helped India avoid a scare by hitting vital scores of 86 and 87 against Bangladesh, as well as a 92 against Sri Lanka.

Iyer's exclusion may have been caused by the belief that he seems a bit ill-prepared to face the short pitches. And the Dukes ball will certainly have plenty of short-pitched material in England. When India played the rearranged fifth Test in Birmingham in 2022, England head coach Brendon McCullum famously gestured the throat cut, telling his bowlers to attack the batsman with a torrent of short deliveries. Iyer got caught in the trap, scoring 15 and 19, and the play was successful.

Iyer has bowled a lot of the short balls, but maybe against players like Matthew Potts, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, and others. In white-ball cricket, Iyer has been a major player for India. He had a fantastic performance at the 2023 World Cup and some strong performances at the Champions Trophy earlier this year between February and March. There is still a notion that Iyer might need more time to re-enter the Test fold after being removed from the BCCI's Central Contracts list, perhaps during the home series later in 2025.

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