With India and Australia set to renew rivalry in Twenty20 Internationals from Saturday (October 7), former captain Sunil Gavaskar is upset with the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) selectors.
The MSK Prasad-led selection panel, on October 1, picked the squad for the three-match T20I series against Australia. However, they dropped the in-form Ajinkya Rahane for the shorter format of the game.
Right-hander Rahane was in great form in the recently concluded India-Australia five-match ODI series. He struck four half centuries in a row but still was ignored for T20Is.
Also read: India-Australia series schedule
Batting legend Gavaskar, who had previously also backed Mumbaikar Rahane, has questioned the selectors and also the logic behind KL Rahul's name in the squad.
Karnataka's Rahul did not feature in any of the five ODIs against Australia as Virat Kohli-led India won the rubber 4-1.
"The man (Rahane) who has scored four consecutive fifties, why is he not included in the team?," Gavaskar questioned on "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.
Even in Sri Lanka, Rahane had been left out of the Playing XIs for four ODIs but got a chance only in the last game. India completed a 5-0 whitewash.
Then too, Gavaskar had slammed the team management for leaving out "nice guys".
He had written in "The Times of India", "Maybe they should start getting a different hair style and some body art too to get picked in the team."
Gavaskar had questioned why Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Rahane were ignored for Sri Lanak ODIs.
"India had made changes on the expected lines with the unassuming trio of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Kedar Jadhav and Yuzvendra Chahal being left out of the side," he said.
"Rahul got yet another chance while the top scorer of the just-concluded one-day series in the West Indies - Ajinkya Rahane - sat out once again," he wrote in the newspaper.
The 29-year-old Rahane has so far played 40 Tests, 84 ODIs and 20 T20Is for India.
When Rahane was asked about his omission from T20I team, he had said, "Yes, so much cricket we play, the team management, selectors take a decision and we respect it."
India T20I squad
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel.
