Sarfaraz Khan’s fearless approach in the home series against England impressed one and all but KL Rahul’s experience will give him the advantage when it comes to finalising the playing XI in India’s season-opening Test series against Bangladesh starting September 19 in Chennai. It is believed that the team management and the selection committee’s full focus is on the tour of Australia in November-December and Rahul’s experience of 50 Tests puts him in an advantageous position. For the team management, it is a choice between a younger man’s (Sarfaraz) flamboyance and fearlessness and a seasoned campaigner who has been a Test captain and is part of the national set-up for a decade now. “For people on the outside, they don’t understand how a team works and what are the systems in place. In his last three Test matches, KL scored a century in South Africa, one of the best Test knocks in recent times and 86 at Hyderabad in the last Test he played before injury.
“He was not dropped but got injured. So, he is fit and available, scored a fifty in Duleep, got match time and he will start,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Sarfaraz, a domestic giant, had a very impressive debut with twin half-centuries on debut against England at Rajkot and another half ton against the same opposition at Dharamsala, showing his precise footwork and improvisation against both fast and slow bowlers.
“Sarfaraz has done everything right and mind it, if there is an injury anywhere, he will just walk in but Rahul’s experience is irreplaceable. And the team management is not just looking at Bangladesh, they are looking at Australia where previous experience matters,” the source added.
Rahul had missed two previous Test tours of Australia due to injuries but in 2014, he had scored a century in Sydney.
While Rahul’s average of less than 35 after 50 Tests doesn’t paint a rosy picture but his uncanny knack of scoring at big overseas venues like Sydney, Lord’s, Oval, Centurion along with his range of strokes when on song keeps him slightly ahead of the Mumbaikar.
The same theory of continuity will also be applicable in the Rishabh Pant vs Dhruv Jurel case.
Jurel is a fine talent and did well in the England series but Pant is an exceptional Test player. Jurel will have to wait for his chance.
The only slot where there could be some close competition is the third spinner’s position where Kuldeep Yadav is pitted against Axar Patel, who has also had a decent Test career so far.
In the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy first round, Axar and Kuldeep had contrasting performances for their respective sides. While Axar took three wickets apart from scoring 86 on a green top at Anantapur, Kuldeep looked a bit off-colour unable to trouble the talented Musheer Khan and tailender Navdeep Saini.
But Kuldeep has had success against Bangladesh in the 2022 away series and also with more variations in store, he is a better bet than Axar on good batting tracks.
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