Mohammad Kaif Questions BCCI's Decision To Drop Shreyas Iyer From India's Tour Of England, Hails Punjab Kings Captain For 'Doing Well For So Long'

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday, May 24th, revealed the 18-member squad for Team India's upcoming Test series against England.

BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar attended the press conference in Mumbai, where they named the squad for the England Tour.

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Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee brought major changes in the Team India squad following Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's retirement from the long-format.

Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer was left out of the 18-member squad even though he has displayed a decent performance in the Ranji Trophy 2024-2025. Many cricket pundits questioned Iyer's omission from the Test squad against the Three Lions.

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While speaking on his official YouTube channel, former cricketer Mohammad Kaif questioned the BCCI's decision to name Sai Sudharsan in place of Shreyas Iyer.

Kaif called Sudharsan a 'brilliant player'; however, he pointed out that the young Gujarat Titans batter was picked following his performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Although Shreyas Iyer has been performing well for a long time.

"Sai Sudharsan is a brilliant player, no doubt. But he was picked in the Test squad after a good IPL season (679 runs and counting). Iyer, meanwhile, has been doing well for so long. He scored some 550 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup and in the Champions Trophy as well. He is still doing a terrific job with the bat for Punjab Kings – 514 runs and counting. He is captaining too. So on one hand, you are considering white-ball criteria for one player and not for the other," Kaif said on his official YouTube channel.

In the ongoing edition of the IPL 2025, the Punjab Kings captain appeared in all 14 matches, scoring 514 runs at a strike rate of 171.90, and has an average of 51.40.

On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan has played 14 matches in the IPL 2025, amassing 679 runs at a strike rate of 155.37, and has an average of 52.23.