Despite every pre-match comment from India's coaching staff suggesting otherwise, middle-order batter KL Rahul has been dropped for the second India vs. New Zealand Test in Pune. The match has begun today (Thursday, October 24).
Number three batter Shubman Gill returned to the playing 11 in Rahul's place. Gill missed out on the last Test due to injury and his replacement Sarfaraz Khan scored a brilliant 150 in the third innings, which apparently put him ahead of Rahul in the pecking order.
Rahul's underwhelming form seems to have finally caught up with him. He has two 50s in the last four Tests, which isn't bad per se, but fades away when the flat pitches are considered and also in comparison to Sarfaraz's brilliant form.
India's playing 11: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, and Jasprit Bumrah.
"Social media doesn't matter" - Gautam Gambhir backs KL Rahul
Two days before the second Test, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said in a press conference that there were "no concerns" regarding KL Rahul's form, though he and Sarfaraz were fighting for the same spot. On the eve of the first day, head coach Gautam Gambhir also threw his weight behind the batter, saying (via The Hindu):
"First of all, social media does not matter one bit. You do not pick players because of the social media or what the experts think. What the team management thinks, what the leadership group thinks, is very very important. Ultimately, everyone is judged, international cricket is about being judged. Everyone's performance will be judged eventually."
"But I feel he is batting really well, he has had a decent knock in Kanpur, obviously on a difficult wicket and he played according to the plans. He would be knowing that he wants to score big runs, he has that capability of scoring these big runs that is why he is being backed by the team management," he added.
It would be interesting to see if India would prefer Sarfaraz Khan again when they travel to Australia in November or whether KL Rahul's experience would take precedence.
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