Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed his disagreement over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) calling back KL Rahul in the Test squad on the back of his performances in the on-going IPL 2020. Rahul, leading Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the UAE, has been in stellar form with the bat. He has so far amassed 595 runs and is leading the list of highest run-scorers of the current IPL edition. Despite KXIP's topsy-turvy raide
However, according to Manjrekar, such selections are demotivating for Ranji players who've been toiling to pave their way into the Test side. To back his opinion, Manjrekar also shared Rahul's average in his last five Test series.
“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," tweeted Manjrekar on Tuesday.
“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,” he further tweeted.
Rahul, who played his last Test against West Indies in 2019, was dropped from the side owing to a string of poor scores.
Apart from Rahul's return, the Test squad will also feature a new face- Mohammed Siraj. The Hyderabad pacer has been slotted in the side as the fifth pacer, with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav being the frontline quicks along with Navdeep Saini.
One notable omission from India's tour of Australia was Rohit Sharma. The Mumbai Indians skipper wasn't selected in any of the formats owing to his hamstring injury. However, the selection committee has said he will be monitored by 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, Mohammed Siraj
