India head coach Gautam Gambhir dropped a major hint on the team's playing XI for the opening Test match against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. Speaking to the media at the Chepauk on the eve of the contest, Gambhir ended the debate around the selections between KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan, and Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant.

After knocking on the selection committee's door for a long time, Sarfaraz eventually made his debut for India in the England Test series at home earlier this year. He scored back-to-back fifties in his maiden appearance in Ranchi, before scoring another fifty in Dharamsala, showcasing his adaptability against pace and spin. However, his debut happened after first-choice middle-order batter Rahul was out with an injury earlier in that same series.

With the veteran of 50 Test appearances back in the set-up, Gambhir reckoned that Sarfaraz will have to wait for his opportunity, given that the experienced Rahul will play a far more crucial role as India build towards the Border-Gavaskar series in December.

The 2011 OD World Cup winner reckoned the same about Jurel, who had made an equally impressive debut earlier this year against England, which included a Player-of-the-Match-winning performance in Ranchi. Gambhir backed Pant for his first Test appearance in two years since being sidelined following a car accident.

“We don’t drop anyone. We just pick the players who fit the XI. We believe in selecting the XI. Jurel is a phenomenal player when Pant is coming in, sometimes people have to wait. Same with Sarfaraz. There will be opportunities and you have to wait,” he said.

With India having a long Test season ahead, the youngsters are surely expected to get their opportunities with the management likely to rotate the players and manage the workload accordingly.

India playing XI set?

Gambhir's statement largely settled the playing XI, if not entirely. With Rahul at No. 5 and Pant at 6, the batting line-up, with the top-order comprising captain Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli (in order), is set.

This will be followed by the two spin all-rounders in R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and two fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. The only concern hence remains the fifth-bowling option.

According to a PTI report earlier, Kuldeep Yadav is expected to be back as the final player in the India XI, ahead of all-rounder Axar Patel and fast bowlers Akash Deep and Yash Dayal.

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