Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
‘If we have to pick one…’: India batting coach on Sarfaraz Khan vs Rajat Patidar debate before second Test vs England
It will be a toss-up between Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan as a debut is confirmed for India in the second Test vs England in Visakhapatnam.
That India will have a debutant in Visakhapatnam is certain but who it will be is not, at least not yet. After KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out of the second Test against England due to injuries, Sarfaraz Khan earned his maiden India call-up. Rajat Patidar was already in the squad as a replacement for Virat Kohli for the first two Tests. One of them will get his Test cap on Thursday. But who will it be?
"It will be a tough choice," said India batting coach Vikram Rathour on Wednesday. Sure it will be. By the selection logic, it should be Patidar. The Madhya Pradesh cricketer was the first choice, ahead of Sarafarz and others, when Kohli was unavailable for the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam Tests. The twin centuries that the attacking right-hander scored against the touring England Lions side barely 10 days before the Test series played a huge role in his rise in the pecking order. He has batted all his life at No.4 and No.5 for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 4000 runs at an average of 46. But so has Sarfarz, batting at No.5 for Mumbai and India A in the last three seasons.
The thing that might go in Patidar's favour apart from being slightly ahead in the peeking order is his ability to attack spinners and pacers alike. Sarafarz, despite having a far better average (69.85) and a mountain of runs - he scored close to a thousand runs in 2019-2020 and 2020-21 and 556 in just 9 innings in 2022-23 - in first-class cricket, his shortcomings against quality pace bowling in the IPL has always been looked at the from the corner of the eye.
But with England hinting to go with a four-pronged spin attack in the second Test, India would need someone to tackle the turn and bounce. Both Sarfaraz and Patidar are well-equipped to do that.
Rathour said the final call will be taken by head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma. "They are superb players. We have seen how well they have done in domestic cricket in the last few years. So on these kinds of wickets, they can really add a lot of value to the team. If we have to pick one then it's of course going to be tough but that's a decision which Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma will have to make in a day or so," Rathour said.
‘India play traditional cricket’: Rathour
England used the sweep shot quite well to blunt the effectiveness of Indian spinners but Rathour said it's not a stroke that can be added overnight to a player's repertoire.
"...you need to be prepared for that by practising it. If you add more shots to your game, it's always beneficial. We played traditionally. The strength of strong areas is going straight when it comes to using our feet.
"We can keep doing that, and of course, if we can add more shots and score through the square of the wicket, that's always an addition," he said.
Rathour also heaped praise on the English batters for playing brave cricket, especially Pope, effectively taking the game away from Rohit Sharma's men.
However, he maintained that England's strong showing has not put his team under any additional pressure.
"They (England) were brave. They took their chances, which worked for them. The kind of innings Pope played was exceptional. I haven't seen too many playing such a knock against our bowling attack," he said.
"I don't think (there's any pressure). We are expected to win while playing in India, and the boys are used to that by now.
"The message to them from the support staff is to play good cricket and not bother about results too much. The other teams also come well-prepared. Since we have won Test matches in Australia, England and South Africa, we also expect them to win a Test in India."
