India’s wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was left out of the team for the second Test between India and New Zealand in Pune. Rahul had struggled with low scores in both innings of the Bengaluru match and was already in danger of being benched.
But India’s head coach Gambhir supported the 32-year-old, saying he believed Rahul would bounce back and score big. Gambhir expressed confidence in Rahul, pointing to his experience playing in different conditions.
This gave Rahul some hope of playing in the Pune Test, but he was still replaced by Shubman Gill. Social media users criticized Gambhir for dropping Rahul after supporting him just a day earlier. They also criticized Rohit Sharma for leaving out KL Rahul.
While KL Rahul was dropped for this match, Sarfaraz Khan, who scored a century in the last game, kept his place. Sarfaraz hit his first Test hundred in Bengaluru, scoring 150 runs off 195 balls. Although he helped India put up a fight, the team still lost the match.
Along with Rahul, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav were also dropped from the Playing XI. Akash Deep and Washington Sundar took their places.
Siraj had been struggling with poor form, and Kuldeep was replaced by Sundar, whose off-spin could be effective against New Zealand’s top order, which includes three left-handed batters. New Zealand made one change, bringing in Mitchell Santner as an extra spinner, replacing Matt Henry, the hero from the last match.
Playing XI For 2nd Test
India Playing 11: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand Playing 11: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke
