Days after sidestepping a question on Shreyas Iyer’s omission from the Indian Test squad by saying 'I am not a selector', India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday offered a more measured response during the team’s pre-departure press conference for the England tour.

“Anyone can be called if you are in form. We can only pick 18. The chairman of selectors have answered the questioned,” Gambhir said.

Iyer, who is currently enjoying a purple patch in his career, was surprisingly left out of the squad for the five-match Test series against England beginning June 20 in Leeds. Iyer recently led Punjab Kings to the IPL 2025 final and has performed consistently in domestic red-ball cricket as well as in recent white-ball outings for India.