‘He Backs The Players He Likes…’: Former India Opener Slams Gautam Gambhir For Favouritism With Reference To Shreyas Iyer’s Snub | Cricket News

Former India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh has raised concerns about India head coach Gautam Gambhir’s selection approach ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 in the UAE. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ramesh claimed that Gambhir favors certain players while neglecting others. What particularly upset him was the omission of Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal from the Asia Cup squad led by Suryakumar Yadav.

India’s squad for the tournament includes Surya Kumar Yadav as captain with Shubman Gill as vice-captain. Other selected players are Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma as wicketkeeper, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson as wicketkeeper, Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh. The standby list features Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.

Ramesh alleged that Gambhir’s coaching style is not balanced when it comes to supporting players. “He backs the players he likes but completely lets go of those he doesn’t,” Ramesh said, as quoted by Sportskeeda.

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Gambhir Era

Gambhir, who took over from Rahul Dravid in July last year, has experienced a mixed journey as India’s head coach so far. His tenure began on a troublesome note with India losing an ODI series against England, followed by disappointing Test series defeats to both New Zealand and Australia. However, India managed to fight back during the recent five-match Test series against England, ending the contest with a 2-2 draw.

Sharing his perspective on this outcome, Ramesh acknowledged that though the drawn series in England might appear as a significant accomplishment, it reflects India’s dip in overall Test performances in recent times. “The drawn series in England looks like a great achievement only because we performed poorly in Test cricket over the past year. Because winning consistently abroad had started long back under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri. But now, just the drawn series in England gets looked at as a big achievement in Gambhir’s track record,” he commented.

The former opening batter further pointed out that the Asia Cup squad selection overlooked form players at the peak of their confidence. He believes players such as Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal deserved cemented positions in the team rather than being left out or placed on standby.

According to Ramesh, Gambhir’s major highlight as coach still remains India’s Champions Trophy title win, with Shreyas Iyer playing a decisive role in that victory. He expressed disappointment at Gambhir’s lack of trust in Iyer despite his performances. “Gambhir’s actual biggest achievement remains the Champions Trophy triumph. Shreyas Iyer was the biggest reason for that result. Yet, Gambhir is not backing Shreyas Iyer. Someone like Jaiswal, who is an X-factor player, must play all the formats. Keeping him in the standby is a poor move,” Ramesh emphasized.

He added that a player riding on confidence should be utilized immediately rather than ignored. “Shreyas Iyer produced incredible performances in the same UAE in the Champions Trophy and should be a permanent fixture in India’s white-ball teams. Players need to be backed when they are high on confidence and in form and not when they fade away and lack confidence. This is the ideal time to reap the rewards of Iyer’s sky-high confidence and form,” Ramesh said