Gambhir leaves Shreyas Iyer googly

new delhi: Head coach Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday sidestepped queries on Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from the Indian squad for England tour but lauded the BCCI for inviting the chiefs of the country’s armed forces to attend the IPL final on June 3 in Ahmedabad.

Iyer, who is in terrific form, could not find place in India’s 18-man squad for the five-match Test series against England, starting June 20 in Leeds.

India will be led by young Shubman Gill with Rishabh Pant as his deputy.

“I am not a selector,” was Gambhir’s terse reply when he was about Iyer, who has led Punjab Kings to the IPL playoffs.

Gambhir, a former BJP MP, though was effusive in his praise for the Indian cricket board for inviting the three chiefs of armed forces to attend IPL title clash, saying, “it’s an unbelievable step”.

“We normally criticise the BCCI a lot on a lot of things, but this is something which is unbelievable. BCCI has taken an initiative from the point of view that the entire nation is one and the entire nation has to salute the armed forces for what they do unconditionally,” he said.