Asia Cup 2022: “[Deepak] Hooda ahead of Iyer in T20s is a step in right direction”- Fans react as Shreyas Iyer named on standby list

Shreyas Iyer failed to find a place in the main squad as Team India announced a 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2022 on Monday, August 8.

The development comes even as Shreyas Iyer scored a quickfire fifty against West Indies in the recently-concluded fifth T20I. However, he found a place on the list of standby players alongside Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar.

Team India will begin their Asia Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai on August 28. The tournament will be of paramount importance to help players prepare for the T20 World Cup.

With the return of Virat Kohli, it seems unlikely that Shreyas Iyer will return to the main squad ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup. But he could come into consideration if Kohli fails to deliver in the upcoming tournament.

Fans quickly took to Twitter to react to the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decision to keep Shreyas Iyer on the standby list. A majority of users on the micro-blogging site felt that all-rounder Deepak Hooda was chosen ahead of Iyer owing to his ability to bowl.

Here are some of the reactions:

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Shreyas Iyer failed to impress in T20I series against West Indies

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain failed to deliver in the recently-concluded T20I series against West Indies, barring the fifth T20I in which he scored 64 runs in 40 balls.

In the first three matches, he scored a duck, 10(11) and 24(27) which forced team management to drop him for the fourth T20I. Overall, he managed to score just 98 runs in four innings at a poor average of 24.5.

Iyer had a brilliant ODI series against WI but failed to deliver consistently in the T20Is in the run-up to the Asia Cup. The right-handed batter was subject to memes for his consecutive failures and below-par strike rate in the shortest format. He earlier failed to score big in his only chance against England in July.

India squad for Asia Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, R Pant (WK), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Y Chahal, R Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.