India vs Australia: Sunil Gavaskar Lashes Out At Selectors For Not Including Ajinkya Rahane In T20I Team

Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar on Wednesday lashed out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors for not including batsman Ajinkya Rahane in the Twenty20 squad against Australia starting October 7. The former India captain was furious at Rahane's exclusion who scored four consecutive fifties in the recently concluded ODI series against Aussies. He also raised questions on KL Rahul's inclusion in the T20I squad and said that the selectors need to give a valid reason for the same. "The man who has scored for consecutive fifties, why is he not included in the team?," Gavaskar told NDTV. "KL Rahul is a fine player, but he didn't play a single game in the five-one day matches against Australia, why is he in the team and Rahane who scored four half-centuries is not there," he added.

Rahane, who took Dhawan's place in the ODI side against Australia, made the most of his opportunity with scores of 5, 55, 70, 53, 61. Earlier, the stylish right-hander was adjudged Man of the Series on the West Indies tour. Commenting on his exclusion from India's T20 squad, the Mumbai batsman had said that he respected the selectors' decision. "Yes, so much cricket we play, the team management, selectors take a decision and we respect it. Speaking about the competition, it is necessary and it helps you to give your best performance. Whoever gets a chance does well for the team. I have always enjoyed the competition," Rahane told reporters in Mumbai.

Team: Virat Kohli (Capt),Rohit Sharma(VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel.