Shreyas Iyer finds support from Varun Dhawan and Robin Uthappa, R Ashwin among cricketers after Asia Cup snub

The chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, mentioned that it wasn't Iyer's fault and nor the selectors' as it would have been difficult to drop any else, currently in the squad. Who would be dropped to fit Iyer? That's the question that has taken over all the social media chatter and the discussions and the analysis post the squad announcement. Several cricketers, Irfan Pathan, R Ashwin and Robin Uthappa and even the Hindi film actor Varun Dhawan jumped to Iyer's support.

While Uthappa debated whether Iyer had been communicated the reasons for his drop, Irfan Pathan was optimistic saying that the 30-year-old will have to be patient with respect to his spot and that a leadership role could also be in the offing for him in the future. Ashwin, on the other hand, on his YouTube channel, dived deep, wondering if the drop would force not just Iyer but also Yashasvi Jaiswal, who potentially was second-in line as the backup opener, to change their approach and focus on the volume of runs, which eventually gets them into the team.

“Not only has his (Yashasvi Jaiswal) slot gone, but there’s a leadership role in that. Now, he’s left with one spot — he needs to fight for Abhishek Sharma’s place. Or he’ll have to go and play in the middle-order in the IPL," Ashwin said on 'Ash Ki Baat'. "He averages 36, with a strike rate of 165 in this format. It’s very hard to find a guy like Jaiswal. He doesn’t play for himself sometimes, I have seen a lot of batters who do. Shreyas (Iyer) is the same.

"Both of them play less for their average and more for strike rate. If the ball is there to be hit, they take the chance. It took a long time for India to get players with that brand of cricket. Now you got those players… I’ll say if I am Jaiswal or Shreyas, now my chance is gone, so from the next time if a risk has to be taken, I won’t. I’ll play for myself because I need to secure my place. It’s unfortunate you’ll have to play for that in T20s,” he added.

On the other hand, Varun Dhawan shared a reel on his Instagram story, which is going viral since the squad announcement, where Iyer is recalling his snub from the Indian team a few years ago and the interview earlier this year where he suggested that if not for Kohli's late niggle, he would have been dropped from the first ODI against England, but he made the place his own.

Iyer only has the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and hopefully the ODI series against Australia to prove himself again that he belongs potentially in all three formats for India, or at least in both the shorter ones.