KL Rahul likely to get T20I axe against Sri Lanka as Chetan Sharma-led committee make their final call

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Mumbai, Dec 25: India are preparing to give opportunities to T20 specialist players in the upcoming white ball series against Sri Lanka.

India will be playing a three-match T20I series against the Lankans as it is set to start on January 3.

And according to reports, KL Rahul will be among the names that may well be getting an axe from the T20 squad.

KL Rahul's form in all formats have been dismal this year. The stand-in Indian captain in the Bangladesh test series has been poor in all formats. He has managed 137 runs (Average of 17) in tests, 251 runs (Average of 27) in ODIs and 434 runs (Average of 29) in T20Is this year.

And a source from BCCI says he will be omitted by the Chetan Sharma-led selectors committee for the Sri Lanka series.

"The old committee will probably select the Sri Lanka white ball squad," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Chetan Sharma and his selectors' committee got sacked by the board for poor performances but the new committee is yet to be named. Reports say the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) will name the final list of new selectors between December 26 to December 28. So the old committee will take the call for the Indian squad against Sri Lanka.

"As of now, it doesn't look like Rohit Sharma's finger will heal enough before the T20Is and in that case, Hardik will lead the side. As far as KL Rahul is concerned, his T20I days seem to be numbered," the source said.

Virat Kohli is also set to get rested despite having a terrific time in the shortest format of the game. It has to be seen who leads the Indian team, but Hardik Pandya looks like the front-runner for now. India will have to get things back on track after their disappointing time down under in the T20 World Cup.

"Chetan and his committee are still watching domestic cricket. They watched the full Vijay Hazare Trophy and also the first two rounds of Ranji Trophy. Debasish Mohanty was present at Eden Gardens to watch Bengal vs Himachal Pradesh. Basically, they got a two-month extension till December 25," the official said.

Plenty of new applicants have applied to take up the new role of selectors. Over 600 applications were submitted as the CAC prepares to filter five names out of that as the next selection panellists.