5 players who missed out on India's T20I squad to face New Zealand

Ajinkya Rahane

Rahane has seven fifties and a century in his last 11 ODIs

If there is one player who can count himself the unluckiest of the lot, it has to be Ajinkya Rahane. The right-hander has been in fantastic form since the Champions Trophy and also seemed to have gained the trust of Virat Kohli, who added that Rahane will be India's backup opener. Despite those statements and his prolific form, Rahane didn't make the cut and KL Rahul, who has struggled to get going, has been picked ahead of him.

The 29-year-old finished with a Man of the Series performance against West Indies in the Carribean but featured just once during the limited-overs leg of India's tour of Sri Lanka. In the ODI series against Australia, he smashed four consecutive fifties but even that hasn't been enough for him as he not only failed to feature in the T20I series against Australia but was also not picked for the first ODI against New Zealand and has been left out of the T20I squad entirely.

While Rahul and Rahane are seen as the opening options, it seems as though despite being in stunning form, Rahane hasn't done enough to warrant a place in the T20I side.