No Doubt Sarfaraz Khan Had Very Good Debut, But KL Rahul Consistent In Scoring Runs, Says Parthiv Patel

Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel believes KL Rahul's consistent run-scoring secured his selection over Sarfaraz Khan in the playing eleven for the first Test against Bangladesh, starting on September 19 in Chennai. "You have to look at KL Rahul's performance in the last few years. He has been fantastic. He scored 100 in South Africa at Centurion. When he played that only Test match against England in Hyderabad, he scored runs. He has been around scoring runs consistently, had a very good World Cup as well.

"But having said that, Sarfaraz had a very good debut series, no doubt about it. As far as I am concerned, India would definitely start with KL Rahul. I don't see a question there, but it's good to see that India has that kind of competition amongst players for every position," said Parthiv to IANS in a select virtual interaction.

Rahul became the designated number five batter since making a fine hundred in challenging conditions against South Africa at the Centurion Park last year.

But after making 86 and 22 against England in Hyderabad in January, Rahul got injured and missed the rest of the series.

In his absence, Sarfaraz came in and smashed 200 runs in three matches, including a fifty on debut in Rajkot. But with Rahul fit and available after making 37 and 57 in first round of the Duleep Trophy, head coach Gautam Gambhir indicated on Thursday that he walks into the eleven ahead of Sarfaraz, a team dynamic which Parthiv agrees with.

He also talked about what makes fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah currently stand head and shoulders above any other bowler in the world.

"The ability to understand the game and delivering under pressure - that's something which makes him stand apart from anyone else.