India's shocking loss against New Zealand in the first Test in Bengaluru raised many questions on the team's strategy. The match was cut short to four days as the first day got washed out due to rain. In the remaining days, the Kiwis outplayed India in all the departments and claimed a historic eight-wicket win, which also turned out to be their first victory on the Indian soil since 1988. After the loss, criticism from the fans and cricket experts started to haunt the Indian players.
A particular set of criticism was targetted towards KL Rahul, who miserably failed to leave a mark in the match. In both the innings, Rahul registered poor scores of 0 and 12 and could not live up to the expectations.
As batter Sarfaraz Khan, who came in as a replacement of an injured Shubman Gill, scored a promising 150, many fans and experts demanded Rahul to be dropped on the return of Gill in the second Test.
However, former India spinner Venkatpathy Raju has backed the 32-year-old batter, stating that the Indian team should not tinker with the XI.
"I don't think we should tinker with the playing XI. If I were the captain, I would go with the same side. You need experienced hands in your team. You can't bench KL Rahul after just one Test match. He is an experienced batter and should play the next Test. There's no need to panic," Raju told Times of India.
"India are still on top of the WTC standings. Rohit is a positive captain. He goes in with a positive approach, and he knows that what's done is done, and now it's time to level the series. I'm sure he will," he added.
Raju further stated that keeping the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in mind, Team India should give another chance to Rahul.
"India should think about those five Tests in Australia and not panic. Let's play KL Rahul in the second Test and give him a chance. He'll bounce back. He has experience. India just need to pull up their socks. That's it," said Raju.
The second Test between India and New Zealand will kick-start from Thursday in Pune. Rohit Sharma and co will now look to level the three-match series.