Gautam Gambhir opened up on Shreyas Iyer's exclusion from the Indian Test team for the series against England and was blunt in his assessment of his situation despite a massive outcry for the 31-year-old to earn a comeback in the red-ball squad.

Ever since being dropped from the Test side in February last year and losing his Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) central contract, Shreyas has made a stunning comeback after leading Kolkata Knight Riders to the 2024 IPL title, Mumbai to the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final of the 2025 IPL while also being the highest run-getter in India's 2025 Champions Trophy win. He also played domestic cricket in all three formats and managed to get runs including in red-ball cricket.

With the Indian batting unit lacking experience during the England tour after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's retirement, it was largely expected that Shreyas will earn a recall. However, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee decided against it.

Gambhir hinted that Shreyas could still be called up, but did not make a big fuss on his absence from the squad.

"Anyone can be called if you are in form. We can only pick 18. We are open to people who are good form. The chairman of selectors have already answered the question," said Gambhir in a press conference in Mumbai ahead of the team's departure to England.

What Did Ajit Agarkar Say On Shreyas Iyer?

After announcing the squad last month, chief selector Agarkar claimed that there is no roam in the squad for the Mumbai batter.

“Yes, Shreyas Iyer has played well in domestic cricket, but at the moment, there is no room for him in the Test Team," said Agarkar.

Shreyas is among a rare list of Indian players to score a Test century on debut. Overall, he has played 14 Tests and scored 811 runs at an average of 35.3 with one ton and five half-centuries.

While Shreyas was once again ignored, India also dropped Sarfaraz Khan and rewarded Karun Nair for an exceptional domestic season with a comeback to the national team after a gap of seven years. Gambhir hailed Nair and banked on his experience of playing county cricket to succeed in England. The India head coach also assured that India's second triple-centurion in Test cricket will get a long run.

"It's great for domestic cricket. It's great for the future of domestic cricket. All the youngsters who are playing domestic will understand its importance: 'if you keep doing well in domestic cricket, doors are never shut'," said Gambhir.

"It's good to have the experience of Karun, who has played a bit of County cricket. He has scored runs there and hit a double hundred for India A. It's always good to have players who are in good form on these kinds of tours.His experience will definitely come in handy, and hopefully he can deliver.

"More importantly, we will not judge someone by one or two Tests. You guys can. We won’t. I think if someone has scored heaps of runs, he will be given a good run at this level as well so that he can showcase his talent here," Gambhir added.

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