"If they were in Pakistan ………" – Ex-Pak cricketer makes bold statement on Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal after Asia Cup 2025 snub – sportingnews.com

Ritabrata_Banerjee
(getty)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-man India squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025 on Tuesday.
Shubman Gill returned to the squad in the shortest format, while Jasprit Bumrah made it to the team despite doubts over his fitness. Bumrah missed two Test matches in the recently concluded series in England due to workload management. But the pacer will feature in the multi-nation competition.
India stuck with their regular T20 openers, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, while Rajasthan Royals star Yashasvi Jaiswal missed out. Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer, who enjoyed a stellar IPL 2025 campaign and led his team to the final, was also overlooked.
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Iyer's exclusion particularly drew criticism from several quarters, as the right-hand experienced batter was in fine form in domestic as well as international white-ball cricket since 2024.
Now, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has shared his opinion on Iyer and Jaiswal’s snub from the Asia Cup squad, while he also shared his opinion on Indian fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
READ: India vs Pakistan ON in Asia Cup 2025
Speaking to Kamran Akmal on a YouTube show ‘Game Time’, Ali opined that Iyer, Jaiswal, Siraj and Shami would have been handed A category contracts if they played for the Pakistan national team.
Ali also claimed that Iyer and Jaiswal’s exclusion from the Indian team for the Asia Cup was unjustified.
Basit Ali said: “Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami agar Pakistan mein hote na, ye log A category mey hote (These would have been in Pakistan’s A category).”
He added: “Iyer ke saath jyadati ho gayi hai. Unko team mey hona chahiye (It was unfortunate that Shreyas Iyer has not been picked).”
MORE: Iyer's father reacts after PBKS captain's Asia Cup 2025 snub
Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Ritabrata is a content producer for The Sporting News’ India edition

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