Former England spinner Monty Panesar believes Shreyas Iyer's excellent track record as captain may have worked against him in terms of selection for the Indian Asia Cup 2025 squad. Team India surprisingly excluded the 30-year-old from the 15-member squad for the continental tournament, starting in the UAE on September 9.Iyer was in red-hot form with the bat in IPL 2025, scoring 604 runs at an average of over 50 and a strike rate of 175.07 in 17 games. He also led the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final in his first season as the franchise's captain.Talking about the possible reason behind Iyer's omission from the Indian Asia Cup squad, Panesar said on India Today:"One of the reasons Shreyas Iyer is probably struggling to get into the Indian squad is because he brings those leadership skills and, at the moment, possibly they've got that covered. It gives them an opportunity to bring in someone younger, a bit more exciting to play, who would be easier to manage for coach Gautam Gambhir. So I think he being the captain in IPL, makes it a bit difficult for him to get into that team."He added:"But I do believe, if he keeps scoring runs, he should be playing. But it's just the talent, the talent is unbelievable. I think India has never been so blessed and lucky that they can pull out probably 2 to 3 teams right now and compete against the world."Before taking over the captaincy role with PBKS this year, Iyer led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in one of the most dominant title runs in 2024."I think T20 is his strongest format" - Monty Panesar on Jasprit BumrahMonty Panesar also weighed in on the workload management conundrum with ace Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah. The former England spinner believes Bumrah should play more in the T20I format, claiming it to be his strongest suit.The 31-year-old missed two out of the five Tests in the recent England series, which ended in a 2-2 draw. However, Bumrah has been included in India's Asia Cup squad, with the 2026 T20 World Cup in mind."He (Bumrah) has an unorthodox action, so I think the difficulty for him is if he's playing back-to-back test matches, it'll probably take a lot of strain on his body than someone who has a traditional bowling action. So, he probably needs that break, but also, I think T20 is his strongest format. So I think India probably needs him fit and ready for the World Cup, for the Asia Cup. So I think he's more of a valuable asset in the T20 format than the other formats," said Panesar (via the aforementioned source).Bumrah helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup, finishing as the Player of the Tournament for picking up 15 wickets at an average of 8.26 and an economy of 4.17 in eight matches.