Gautam Gambhir settles the KL Rahul vs Sarfaraz, Dhruv Jurel vs Rishabh Pant debate for 1st BAN Test: 'No one gets dropped'

After persistently knocking on the selection committee's door, Sarfaraz finally earned his spot in the Indian team for the England Test series at home earlier this year. Making his debut in Ranchi, he impressed everyone by scoring consecutive fifties, showcasing his versatility against both pace and spin bowling. Despite his strong performance, it was only after the first-choice middle-order batsman Rahul was sidelined with an injury that Sarfaraz got his opportunity to shine on the international stage.

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.

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.