The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Indian squads for the upcoming tour of Australia. The selection committee picked the team for all three series and few new names were seen on the sheet. While Rohit Sharma’s name was missing from all three squads, KL Rahul made a comeback in the Test squad.
The team selection has raised several eyebrows with strange decisions. Sanjay Manjrekar was quick to question the selection of Rahul in the Test squad purely on the basis of his IPL performance. Rahul is currently the highest run-scorer in the IPL 2020 with 595 runs in the tournament so far.
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Manjrekar expressed his disagreement on Twitter as he wrote: “You set a bad precedent when you recall a player for Tests on IPL performance. Especially if the player has been an abject failure in his last few Tests. Whether that player succeeds or fails is irrelevant, such selections massively demotivate Ranji players.”
You set a bad precedent when you recall a player for Tests on IPL performance. Especially if the player has been an abject failure in his last few Tests. Whether that player succeeds or fails is irrelevant, such selections massively demotivate Ranji players. #INDvsAUS
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 27, 2020
Rahul played his last Test in August 2019 against West Indies and because of his poor form in the longest formats, he was eventually dropped from the Indian Test squad.
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In an earlier tweet, Manjrekar raised the question on Rahul’s recent form in the longest format. He had tweeted: “Played against WI at home after difficult series…3 innings. 0,4 and 33 n.o. Plus in WI ( Not difficult series ) got 44,38,13,6. His last test series”.
KL Rahul in his last 5 Test series
– v SA – Avg 7.1
– v Eng – Avg 29
– v WI at home – Avg 18
– v Aus – Avg 10.7
– v WI – Avg 25.4
I say very lucky to get a recall based on IPL & white ball performance. But now let’s just hope he makes the most of this chance. Good luck to him! https://t.co/YBVbeut5jH— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 27, 2020
Mohammed Siraj received his maiden Test call-up as he delivered a brilliant bowling spell against Kolkata Knight Riders when he registered figures of 4-2-8-3 and sucked the life out of their innings. He is selected as the fifth pacer in the squad while Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav were the straightforward choices along with Navdeep Saini.
Rohit wasn’t selected in the team owing to an injury he sustained while playing in the IPL. However, the selection committee has been monitoring his fitness along with the team doctors.
India’s Test Squad for Australia tour: Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohdammed Siraj
