With Shubman Gill regaining fitness, it will be a toss up between KL Rahul and birthday boy Sarfaraz Khan for a middle-order batting spot in the India vs New Zealand 2nd Test in Pune.
Team India is now facing a choice of plenty as they head into the must-win second Test against New Zealand at the MCA Stadium in Pune starting on Thursday. The home team are down 1-0 in the series after losing the first Test by eight wickets in Bengaluru.
Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan, who is celebrating his 27th birthday on Tuesday (October 22), grabbed his opportunity to return to the Indian side with both hands – scoring his maiden Test century, a brilliant 150 in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test. Sarfaraz had got the chance in the playing 11 as Shubman Gill had to pull out of the game due to stiff neck.
But with Gill regaining his fitness, it is now a clear-cut battle between Sarfaraz and KL Rahul for a spot in the 2nd Test side. India’s assistant coach and former Netherlands all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday that middle-order batters Rahul and Sarfaraz are locked in a selection battle for the second Test.
Gill and Rishabh Pant are both aiming to shake off injury concerns for the match starting Thursday. “Yeah, there’s no point in sugarcoating it, there’s a fight for a spot,” Ten Doeschate told the media in Pune on Tuesday, when asked if Rahul and Sarfaraz were battling for a place in the team.
“Sarfaraz was obviously brilliant in the last Test. I went to KL after the last Test (and) said how many balls do you play at (and) miss at? He didn’t play at (and) miss at one ball and that’s what tends to happen when you’re not getting runs. There’s certainly no concerns about KL, he’s batting nicely, he’s in a good mental space. But we are certainly going to have to fit seven pieces into six spots for this Test and look at the pitch now and decide what’s going to be best for the team,” he said.
Wishing #TeamIndia batter Sarfaraz Khan a very Happy Birthday 🎂 👏 pic.twitter.com/OiYmwU1tBJ
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 22, 2024
While admitting that it is difficult to keep Rahul out of the equation in the Test format, Ten Doeschate said head coach Gautam Gambhir is ‘keen to’ give him a long rope. “It’s not like we’re worried about his form. If you go on just the past three months since Gauti has been in here, he’s keen to give him (Rahul) as much rope as we can. We have a lot of faith in him,” he said.
“But at the same time, it’s a very competitive environment, with Sarfaraz getting 150 plus runs (222 not out) in the Irani Trophy final. The decision will be what’s best for the team, but we’ll certainly back all the guys in,” he added.
Pant, who did not keep wickets for a significant part of the opening Test, and Shubman Gill, who missed the match due to stiffness in his neck, are close to attaining their full fitness. “Rishabh is pretty good. I think Rohit (Sharmna) touched on it the other day. He was having a little bit of discomfort at the end range of his movement with the knee. But fingers crossed, he’ll be good to keep in the Test as well,” he said.
“He (Gill) looks so (available for this Test). He has batted last week in Bangalore, he had a few nets, he’s got a little bit of discomfort, but I think he’ll be good to go for the Test,” he added.
Ten Doeschate said the addition of all-rounder Washington Sundar is ‘no desperate measure’ but to add a bowling option who would take the ball away from the Kiwis left-handers. “Definitely not. They (New Zealand) are filled with four left-handers in the XI. We’ve had Washy around the white-ball squad for a while and we like the way he operates. It’s also nice to see that guys are getting rewarded for Ranji Trophy performance as well.”
India Predicted 11 vs New Zealand for 2nd Test
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan/KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav/Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
(with PTI inputs)
