'No point sugarcoating': India assistant coach on fight for a spot between Rahul and Sarfaraz

Pune: India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday that middle-order batters KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan are locked in a selection battle for the second Test against New Zealand here even though head coach Gautam Gambhir is keen to give the former, a long rope.

With India looking to bounce back from the eight-wicket thrashing at Bengaluru in the opening Test, focus will be on the team combination with Washington Sundar being added to the squad. Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are both aiming to shake off injury concerns for the match starting Thursday.

"Yeah, there's no point in sugarcoating it, there's a fight for a spot," ten Doeschate told the media when asked if Rahul and Sarfaraz were battling for a place in the team, here at the MCA Stadium ahead of India's training session.

"Sarfaraz was obviously brilliant in the last Test. I went to KL after the last Test (and) said how many balls do you play at (and) miss at? He didn't play at (and) miss at one ball and that's what tends to happen when you're not getting runs.

"There's certainly no concerns about KL, he's batting nicely, he's in a good mental space. But we are certainly going to have to fit seven pieces into six spots for this Test and look at the pitch now and decide what's going to be best for the team," he said.

Sarfaraz scored a second-innings 150 in the Bengaluru game, while Rahul remained off-colour in both essays.

While admitting that it is difficult to keep Rahul out of the equation in the Test format, ten Doeschate said head coach Gautam Gambhir is "keen to" give him a long rope.

"It's not like we're worried about his form. If you go on just the past three months since Gauti has been in here, he's keen to give him (Rahul) as much rope as we can. We have a lot of faith in him," he said.

"But at the same time, it's a very competitive environment, with Sarfaraz getting 150 plus runs (222 not out) in the Irani Trophy final. The decision will be what's best for the team, but we'll certainly back all the guys in," he added.

Pant, who did not keep wickets for a significant part of the opening Test, and Shubman Gill, who missed the match due to stiffness in his neck, are close to attaining their full fitness.

"Rishabh is pretty good. I think Rohit (Sharmna) touched on it the other day. He was having a little bit of discomfort at the end range of his movement with the knee. But fingers crossed, he'll be good to keep in the Test as well," he said.

"He (Gill) looks so (available for this Test). He has batted last week in Bangalore, he had a few nets, he's got a little bit of discomfort, but I think he'll be good to go for the Test," he added.