Why is Shreyas Iyer Not West Zone Captain in Duleep Trophy?

Indian Cricket Team batter Shreyas Iyer will be part of the West Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2025. He will be playing under the leadership of Shardul Thakur in the tournament, which will begin on August 28.

Along with Shreyas Iyer, some of the big names in Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be part of the West Zone squad. With the selectors naming the squad, a lot of eyebrows were raised when Thakur was preferred to lead the team ahead of Iyer.

This is because Shreyas Iyer has been one of the finest leaders in the Indian domestic circuit. In the last few years, he has been top-notch as a captain for Mumbai in the domestic circuit as well as in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Why was Shreyas Iyer Not Given West Zone Captaincy?

Amid all the talks related to Shreyas Iyer West Zone captaincy, it has been revealed why it didn't happen. As per the reports in the Indian Express, it is learned that the right-hander is in the mix to be picked in the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2025.

Hence, the selectors went ahead with Shardul Thakur as they didn’t want their captain to leave the team midway in the tournament. The Asia Cup 2025 will be played from 9th to 28th September and will clash with Duleep Trophy 2025, which could've turned into a big headache for the team if Iyer was named captain.

“The reason for not naming Iyer as skipper was that the selection committee felt that he might be picked for the Asia Cup team, which is scheduled to play from September 9 onwards," the report read.

Shreyas Iyer Aiming For Test Return

Shreyas Iyer Duleep Trophy availability means that he will have a great opportunity to make a return to the Indian Test setup. The Mumbai batter wasn't picked in the team for the ongoing series against the England despite having a decent outing in the last season of the Ranji Trophy.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors went ahead with Karun Nair, who made his return to the team after eight long years. However, their decision didn't pay off as Nair struggled badly with the bat in the ongoing series, failing to convert his starts.

Shreyas Iyer is one of the best Indian batters across formats at the moment. His last Test for India came in February 2024 against England. So far, he has played 14 games in the longest format of the game and has mustered 811 runs at an average of around 37 to go with one ton and five fifties.

Will Shreyas Iyer Play Asia Cup 2025?

One of the major reasons behind Shreyas Iyer being in contention for the Asia Cup 2025 could be the kind of form that he displayed with the bat in the IPL 2025. Leading Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the tournament, he scored 604 runs in 17 games, taking his team to the final. Iyer is one of the most successful captains in IPL history.

Iyer has played 51 T20Is for India and has scored 1104 runs at a strike rate of 136.12. He has also hit eight fifties in this format. The right-hander last played for the national team in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, where he was the leading run-getter for his team.

If selected in the Asia Cup 2025, Iyer would be keen to claim his place back in the T20I side. After 2023, he was sidelined from the format as the BCCI gave opportunities to youngsters to build a strong core for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, which will be played in India and Sri Lanka.