The first Test of the three-match series between India and New Zealand will start on Wednesday (October 16) at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After winning the last six red-ball matches, India would like to come up with another big show in the series opener against the Tom Latham-led side in his first match as full-time captain of the New Zealand Test side. The visitors will miss former captain and star batter Kane Williamson in the series opener, but India has named a full-strength side for the last home series of 2024.
While the majority of the players that played in Bangladesh series are confirmed selections in the playing XI, the same can’t be said about KL Rahul. The 32-year-old right-handed batter, who scored a fifty in his last inning, faces stiff competition from Sarfaraz Khan for a place as No. 6 batter in the Test team.
Rahul was preferred over Sarfaraz in the two Tests against Bangladesh last month, and he performed well to justify the selection, but Sarfaraz, who made his Test debut for India earlier this year, has also presented his case for selection in the side by scoring a double century for Mumbai in the Irani Cup 2024 match played against the Rest of India in Lucknow earlier this month.
The right-handed batter came out to bat at No. 6 for the Ajinkya Rahane-led side and remained unbeaten on 222 runs from 286 balls in the first inning. The Indian team management could consider rewarding Sarfaraz for the super show by including him in the playing XI for the series opener.
Ahead of the start of the first India-New Zealand Test, here’s a look at how Sarfaraz and Rahul have performed in Test cricket:
Overall record
Rahul has played in a total of 52 Tests for India so far since making his debut against Australia in Melbourne on December 26, 2014. He has 2969 runs to his name, which he has scored with an average of 34.52. On the other hand, Sarfaraz made his Test debut against England in Rajkot on February 15, 2024, and has amassed a total of 200 runs in five innings of three Tests. His batting average is 50.00, and on three occasions he crossed the 50-run mark.
Performance in 2024
While Sarfaraz has played three Tests in 2024 for India, Rahul has featured in four out of eight Tests India has played so far in 2024. He played both the Tests against Bangladesh and also participated in one match each against South Africa and England. In six innings, Rahul has scored 222 runs for the Rohit Sharma-led side at an average of 44.40. He slammed one fifty each against England (86) and Bangladesh (68).
Performance in red-ball matches
Apart from the Test matches, Rahul also played in one Duleep Trophy 2024 match for India A against India B under Shubman Gill’s leadership and scored 37, 57 runs. He finished as the leading run scorer in both innings for India A but failed to help them avoid defeat.
Sarfaraz played two Duleep Trophy matches for India B and scored 9, 46, and 16 runs. But his most impactful knock was against ROI in the Irani Cup. In the year 2024, before making his India debut, Sarfaraz played three matches for India A as well against England Lions and registered scores of 96, 4, 55, and 161, respectively.
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