As experts dissected India's eight-wicket loss at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday against New Zealand, which left the home team trailing 0-1 in the three-Test contest, a post-match visual reignited the debate on KL Rahul versus Sarfaraz Khan for a place in the playing XI for the next match of the series in Pune. While two of them called for Sarfaraz's inclusion after his majestic knock of 150, another reckoned that India might stick with Rahul for yet another game.

Much like in the Bangladesh series last month, Sarfaraz was also expected to sit out in the contest against New Zealand, with India wanting to back the experienced Rahul with an eye on the preparations for the Border-Gavaskar series in later November. However, with Shubman Gill incurring a stiff neck ahead of the start of the Bengaluru Test, the Mumbai batter was added to the playing XI, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands, scoring his maiden international ton. Meanwhile, Rahul, who only managed a solitary fifty on his Test return in the Bangladesh series, was dismissed for 0 and 12 against New Zealand.

After the end of the Bengaluru Test, JioCinema showed live visuals of Gill hitting the centre-wicket practice, leaving fans hoping for a return to the playing XI. It also subsequently sparked a debate on whether India would drop Rahul in the Pune Test this week, if Gill does resume his No. 3 role for the match.

The ‘Karun Nair’ theory

Speaking to the broadcasters, former India cricketer Parthiv Patel reckoned that despite the mighty efforts from Sarfaraz, the management is likely to stick with Rahul, although the batter will remain under pressure to prove his worth.

“I will still play KL Rahul, the way the team has shown faith in him. I am thinking like that based on how the team’s thinking has been. If you wanted, you could have made Rahul bat at No. 3 in this Test match but you said that you didn’t want to change his position. Nothing to take from Sarfaraz’s knock, he made 150 runs for sure, but it’s the same situation as Mohammed Siraj or Akash Deep. There will definitely be pressure on KL Rahul but I would still play him,” he said.

The remark sparked the ‘Karun Nair’ theory, with Aakash Chopra serving a reminder to what the veteran India batter had incurred after his historic knock of 300 against England in 2016. Nair was dropped to make way for Ajinkya Rahane in the next Test as he was only filling in for the senior batter in the Chennai match.

Despite the reminder to that unfortunate incident, Aakash reckoned that Sarfaraz is unlikely to incur that fate.

“There is a theory. Karun Nair made 300, but was dropped in the next match. Why? Because he was playing in place of Ajinkya Rahane in that match, and with the latter coming back, Nair fell back in pecking order. A Test career that could have been, might have been...Nair never got that continuity. Going by that theory, Sarfaraz will sit out, but I feel that won't happen. One more thing is important in Indian cricket - outside noise - and that favours Sarfaraz right now,” he said.

Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja agreed to the latter saying: “I see it this way. The player who was rested was a No. 3 batter. The one who replaced him batted in place of Virat Kohli at No. 4. So if you ask me, will Kohli play or Sarfaraz? So we should begin thinking in that fashion. We just listened to Rohit Sharma now (in press conference), where he said that every player has been given a message. So in that case, if they drop Mohammed Siraj, then Rahul should also be benched, because they are now going through a similar phase.”

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