Rahul faces scrutiny to secure place in India's playing XI

Bengaluru: KL Rahul is feeling the heat to secure his spot in the playing eleven for the remainder of the series against New Zealand following his disappointing performances in the Bengaluru Test. There are speculations that Rahul may lose his place to Sarfaraz Khan, who scored a century, once Shubman Gill makes a comeback to the team.

Gill missed the first Test nursing a stiff neck but will return to bat at No.3 in the next Test in Pune starting on October 24. Gill batted for an hour on the centre wicket at M Chinnaswamy Stadium after the Test ended early on the fifth day, facing Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna who are travelling with the team as bowling reserves.

Following his three fifties, it is Sarfaraz’s maiden Test hundred — he scored 150 — when the team had their backs to the wall, facing a huge deficit of 356 runs, that impressed the dressing room the most. Kuldeep Yadav praised Sarfaraz’s ability to dominate spin. With the courageous Mumbai batter combining so well with Rishabh Pant, the two are being seen as a potentially disruptive middle-order combination for the future.

“I am not the person who talks after every single game to individuals. They know exactly where they stand in their game, where they stand in their career,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said, leaving it to conjecture.

“We don’t change our mindset based on one game or one series. The messages are thrown at them quite early at the start. And then they know exactly where they stand and what the situation is of the team.

“Anyone who gets an opportunity will have to try and make an impact in the game. That is the simple message that we keep talking about. It was unfortunate that Shubman missed this game. And Sarfaraz took that opportunity, got a big 100. It’s a good sign for the team,” he added.

Rahul continues his struggle to get his career up and running, one that began in resounding fashion with a 110 in the 2015 Sydney Test. Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal made their debuts after him and have made their spots their own. It was Jaiswal who first pushed Rahul from opening to the middle order. Now, it is Sarfaraz who has turned on the heat by the weight of his performances.

Rahul has had an indifferent year, beginning well with 86 in the first Test at home against England, before missing the rest of the series with a quadriceps injury and then a sore knee. He scored a brisk 68 in Kanpur against Bangladesh when India were pushing for declaration. But given the increased competition for Test berths, his inconsistent run is not helping. Rahul averages 33.87 after 52 Tests.

Rahul’s overseas hundreds in Australia, South Africa and England may keep him in contention for the upcoming Australian tour. But in the here and now, Sarfaraz’s cricket smarts may fit the bill. Sarfaraz was able to negate the threat of New Zealand’s main spinner Ajaz Patel by the frequent use of sweep, an approach that may prove useful in the coming matches.

‘Extra careful with Pant’

Pant, who was hit on the right knee on which he got operated, did not keep in the Test. Rohit said it was to be “extra careful”.

“It’s just to be a little careful about where he is at and what he is to us. Even when he was batting, he was not comfortably running. He was trying to only put the ball in the stands,” he said.

Off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar has been added to the squad for the next two NZ Tests following his hundred in Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy tie against Delhi. With four spinners already in the squad, Washington’s inclusion may be as cover for Gill and Pant. He may even get into the 11 if India go in for a fourth spinner.

Shami in fitness race for Australia

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami, sidelined for close to a year, by an ankle injury and recently a swollen knee, had a bowl on the Bengaluru centre wicket after the Test with bowling coach Morne Morkel overseeing proceedings. Shami, who still had his left knee strapped, has been building up workload trying to prove his fitness for the Australia Test series starting on November 22. Rohit has made it clear that they won’t want to take “an undercooked Shami to Australia” and he will be passed fit only after proving his match fitness.