Experienced batter KL Rahul was dropped from the Indian side for the 2nd Test against New Zealand. This comes a day after head coach Gautam Gambhir said that he completely backs Rahul despite his woeful form in red-ball cricket.
“You don’t pick players on social media because of social media or for that matter even what the experts are saying. What the team management thinks and what the leadership group thinks is very, very important. Ultimately, everyone is judged,” Gambhir said in the pre-match press conference.
“International cricket is all about being judged, to be honest, because everyone’s performance will be judged eventually. But I feel that he (Rahul) is batting really well. Obviously, he has had a decent knock in Kanpur (against Bangladesh) obviously, on a difficult wicket,” Gambhir added.
So, many Indian fans were left absolutely shocked after Rahul wasn’t given a place in the playing XI for the second Test which will be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
Rahul was replaced by Shubman Gill, who made his return to the team after fully recovering from the fitness issues which kept him out of the first Test.
This wasn’t the only change that India made in their playing XI as all-rounder Washington Sundar, who was brought into the squad after their 8-wicket defeat in the first Test, has replaced Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI while Akash Deep, who impressed in the Bangladesh Test series, has replaced fellow pacer Mohammed Siraj.
Playing XI for India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah.
Playing XI for New Zealand: Tom Latham (C), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (WK), Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke.
