Is KL Rahul getting preferential treatment from selectors?

The voices of criticism against KL Rahul are getting louder by the minute.

And with good reason too!

After all, Rahul has been getting a long rope in Team India despite his poor run in all formats of the game.

In the recently concluded three-match ODI series and two-match Test series against Bangladesh, the 30-year-old accumulated a total of mere 152 runs in seven innings that he played.

The right-handed batter scored 57 runs in four innings in Tests at an average of 14.25 and he amassed 95 runs in three matches averaging 31.67 in the ODIs.

Rahul’s scores in the series read 22, 23, 10 and 2.

The 123 at Centurion in December last year and the 50 at Johannesburg in January now feel so distant.

Since then, his last seven innings read 8, 12, 10, 22, 23, 10 and 2.

“KL Rahul has to go without a doubt, in my opinion. He had a pretty ordinary series as a batsman. If Rohit comes in, KL has to make a way,” says former India opener Wasim Jaffer.

Jaffer prefers Shubman Gill to partner Rohit Sharma when his finger injury heals.

Unlike Rahul, Shubman Gill had a fantastic performance in the Test series where he slammed his maiden Test hundred in the first Test at Chattogram.

In four innings, Gill scored 157 runs at an average of 39.25 and was the fourth highest run-getter in the series.

However KL Rahul had some justification for his failures.

He said, “When you are playing all three formats, it is a bit tricky to just jump from one format to the other. Personally at least I haven’t played Test cricket in some time now. It takes a bit of time to get back into your groove and understand and take your mind back to what were the things you were doing right when you were playing well or doing well in Test cricket.”

These words may not hold much water in the near future.

There are strong rumours that said that Rahul might be dropped from Team India for the T20I series against Sri Lanka at home.

It’s unlikely that Rohit Sharma’s injury will heal by then and hence, Hardik Pandya might take over as captain.

This might mean curtains to the old T20 brigade of KL Rahul and even Virat Kohli.

Sri Lanka is set to tour India for a three-match ODI series and a three-match T20I series in January.