New Delhi, India

With less than 10 days to go before the start of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, the suspense surrounding the Indian team’s middle-order set-up could be lifted according to a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source. According to reports, a BCCI official late Monday (Sep 9) evening confirmed that KL Rahul is all set to get the nod in the Playing XI ahead of Sarfaraz Khan. The duo is battling for a spot in the middle-order as India prepare for a crunch next few months in red-ball format with the Australia tour also on the horizon.

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KL Rahul to play against Bangladesh?

"For people on the outside, they don't understand how a team works and what are the systems in place. In his last three Test matches, KL scored a century in South Africa, one of the best Test knocks in recent times and 86 at Hyderabad in the last Test he played before injury," a BCCI source said as quoted by PTI.

He confirmed that Rahul will start ahead. "He was not dropped but got injured. So, he is fit and available, scored a fifty in Duleep, got match time and will start," the source added.

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India are set to return to Test action after March when they beat England 4-1 in the five-match series. Sarfaraz who made his debut during that series was in line to start for India, however, Rahul is likely to retain the faith of the team management. He last featured for the Indian team during the Hyderabad Test against England, where the hosts lost.

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Speculations were high after the loss that Rahul had been dropped, however, the source added that the Lucknow Super Giants captain was injured and will be back in the Playing XI for the opening Test in Chennai.

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India’s squad for the 1st Test of the Bangladesh Test series: 

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.