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KL Rahul sent a ‘danger’ message as Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma asked to keep Sarfaraz Khan during Shubman Gill’s recovery

KL Rahul sent a ‘danger’ message as Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma asked to keep Sarfaraz Khan during Shubman Gill’s recovery

Sarfaraz Khan was never scheduled to play the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand despite his record 222 for Mumbai in the Irani Cup earlier this month. He made an impressive debut for India in the Test series against England in early 2024, scoring three fifties in five innings. But with KL Rahul back in the format, India backed the experienced batsman with an eye on preparations for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and Sarfaraz warmed the bench in the home series against Bangladesh last month.

Sarfaraz Khan scored a century batting at number 4 for India against New Zealand

However, with Shubman Gill suffering a stiff neck on the eve of the first Test against Tom Latham’s men, a position opened up in the middle order which Sarfaraz grabbed with both hands. The right-hander recovered from a dismissal for duck in the first innings to score his maiden century on the fourth day of play in Bengaluru, helping India reduce the first-innings deficit to just 12 runs at Lunch.

While most praised the Mumbai batsman for his game-enlivening knock under pressure, many felt that the three-figure score put pressure on Rahul, who is yet to bat in this innings, and was on the verge of losing a place in the lineup He did not perform later in the game, especially as India are expected to make Gill fit for the second Test against New Zealand.

Rahul, like Sarfaraz, was dismissed for a duck in the first innings in Bengaluru, although he managed a knock of 68 at No. 6 for India in the second Test against Bangladesh last week.

Here are some of the tweets…

“KL Rahul will be the one under the most pressure”

It’s not just the fans on social media, veteran Indian batsman Manoj Tiwary too was of this opinion after watching Sarfaraz counter-attack on the third day of the opening Test, where he ended with an unbeaten 70 while maintaining a score of 136 Runs scored alongside former captain Virat Kohli.

Speaking to Cricbuzz after Day 3, Tiwary assumed Gill would be automatically selected for the No. 3 role when he recovers for the second Test next week after scoring big against Bangladesh last month, leading to this could result in the team management being left with No. 3. There is no choice but to drop Rahul after a maiden international hundred from Sarfaraz.

“You cannot remove Shubman Gill at this stage because he scored 100 goals in the previous series and also has a very good record. If he recovers from his stiff neck, he will automatically be a pick. KL Rahul will be the one under the most pressure,” Tiwary said.

“Even if Rahul doesn’t score runs in the next two Tests, he will still be preferred for the first Tests in Australia. But if he doesn’t do well there, Sarfaraz could come into the starting XI. I think.” Sarfaraz should also be given a fair chance. It’s good that the players in the reserves are performing well. There will definitely be pressure on some players in the starting eleven.