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Everyone was delighted by Sarfaraz Khan’s brave approach during the home series against England, but KL Rahul will have the advantage due to his experience when it comes to selecting the playing XI for India’s opening Test series against Bangladesh, which begins in Chennai on September 19.
The Australian tour in November and December is thought to be the selection committee’s and team management’s primary emphasis, and Rahul is in a good position because of his 50 Test experience. The team management must decide between the boldness and fearlessness of a younger player, Sarfaraz, and an experienced player who has been a Test captain and a member of the national team for ten years.
“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.
Known for his ability to score runs at the highest level domestically, Sarfaraz made a very strong debut against England in Rajkot, scoring two half-centuries, and then against the same team in Dharamsala, demonstrating his deft footwork and inventiveness against both slow and fast spinners.
“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’s average of less than 35 after 50 Tests doesn’t exactly portray a positive picture, but he manages to stay one stroke ahead of the Mumbaikar because to his remarkable ability to score at major international grounds like Sydney, Lord’s, Oval, and Centurion.
In the Rishabh Pant v. Dhruv Jurel case, the same continuity theory will be used.
While Pant is a superb Test player, Jurel is a talented player who performed well in the England series. Jurel is going to have to bide his time.
The only place where Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, who has also had a respectable Test career thus far, might face off closely is the third spinner’s spot.
For their respective teams, Axar and Kuldeep had different performances in the just finished Duleep Trophy first round. In contrast to Axar, who amassed 86 runs on a green surface at Anantapur and claimed three wickets, Kuldeep appeared a little off-colour and was unable to pose a threat to both Musheer Khan and Navdeep Saini, the last man.
However, Kuldeep is a stronger option than Axar on strong batting surfaces because he has experience playing Bangladesh in the away series of 2022 and because he has more variations in store.