IND Vs BAN: KL Rahul Or Sarfaraz Khan? Who Is Going To Be India’s Wicketkeeper In First Test

New Delhi: KL Rahul’s seniority will give him the advantage over Sarfaraz Khan’s fearless approach in the home series against Bangladesh when it comes to selection of the final XI in the first Test, which starts on September 19. With the Australia series in mind, the team management is banking on the Rahul’s experience of 50 Test matches in the middle-order which has not been consistent in recent times.

Although Rahul couldn’t play more than one Test match against England during the home series earlier this year due to injury, the right-hander scored a century against South Africa in South Africa and a 86 against England in his last three Test matches.

“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 didn’t do anything wrong. The Mumbai batter showed immense maturity on debut with two half centuries in Rajkot before scoring his third fifty in his third game at Dharamsala.

“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.

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.

Rahul had missed two previous Test tours of Australia due to injuries but in 2014, he had scored a century in Sydney. 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 abetter bet than Axar on good batting tracks.