"An average of 33 in 53 matches is not great" - Aakash Chopra on choosing between KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan for IND vs NZ 2024 2nd Test
Aakash Chopra reckons Team India have a big question to answer in choosing between KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan for the second Test against New Zealand. He pointed out that Rahul, who has been earmarked for the No. 6 position, doesn't have a great overall record in Tests.
The second game of the three-match series is scheduled to start in Pune on Thursday, October 24. With Shubman Gill likely to return to the XI, either Rahul or Sarfaraz might have to make way if the hosts persist with five frontline bowlers.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener opined that Rahul's Test record might force the team management to reconsider their pre-series thought of persisting with him at No. 6.
"This Indian team have followed a philosophy that if the original choice player becomes fit and available, he will return and whoever has played in his place will go out. Secondly, when there was a question before the first Test that who would go at No. 3, the captain and coach said they were feeling very comfortable with playing Rahul at six and they didn't want to move him," he said (4:10).
"It seems like they were thinking that it's a makeshift. Now that Sarfaraz has scored a century and Rahul has failed in the two innings, a big question has come. I was seeing KL Rahul's numbers. The numbers are not that good. An average of 33 in 53 matches is not great," Chopra added.
Chopra pointed out that Rahul has played more substantial knocks in overseas conditions, adding that only one of his eight Test centuries has come in India.
"The last 10 matches could actually make or break" - Aakash Chopra on KL Rahul's indifferent recent numbers
![KL Rahul managed only 12 runs across his two innings in the Bengaluru Test. [P/C: BCCI]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/10/ab3f9-17296570196186-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that KL Rahul's numbers in his last 10 Tests are worse than his overall record.
"The last 10 matches could actually make or break because he (Rahul) has played 17 innings in them, scored 434 runs, which includes one century which if I remember correctly came in Centurion against South Africa, and the average is just 27. Begs a question that what would happen," he observed (5:20).
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the defeat in the Bengaluru Test and Sarfaraz Khan's impressive performance might force the team management to leave out Rahul.
"It was probably easier to drop Karun Nair because there was a gap of a series in between. You also made Sarfaraz and Dhruv Jurel sit out because there was a lot of time in between. When someone has done well in the last match and your team has lost, and although KL Rahul probably deserves to play one more match, an average of 27 in the last 10 matches, you may say that you are running out of patience," Chopra elaborated.
Chopra concluded by saying that he would play Sarfaraz. While acknowledging that he is unsure what Rohit Sharma and company will do, he questioned how someone who played a 150-run knock can be dropped.