With no recent first-class performances, former India batsman-turned-commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar, thinks the selectors have left a "bad precedent" in recalling Karnataka right-hander KL Rahul to the Test squad for the difficult tour to Australia. 

Rahul, Manjrekar says, is "very lucky" to have made it back in the Test batting unit this Monday (October 26) on the back of IPL and other limited-overs performances since his last outing in traditional whites. 

WATCH - "It feels surreal", Varun Chakravarthy on maiden India call-up

While Rahul stand at the top of the run-charts in IPL 2020, his last Test dates back to August 2019 in West Indies, before which he hadn't looked technically compact for a while and endured an extended period out of form either side of a ton at The Oval during India's 2018 England trip. 

"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," Manjrekar tweeted.

"KL Rahul in his last 5 Test series - v SA - Avg 7.1, - v Eng - Avg 29, - v WI at home - Avg 18, - v Aus - Avg 10.7, - v WI - Avg 25.4," he mentioned in another tweet. "I say very lucky to get a recall based on IPL & white ball performance. But now let's just hope he makes the most of this chance. Good luck to him!" 

Rahul, who started off in classical Test match mode as a batsman before turning into a versatile white-ball force, has played 36 Tests with 2,006 runs at an average of 34.58, including 5 hundreds and 11 fifties. 

India will strive to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, having pulled off a historic maiden Test series win on their last trip.