Sanjay Manjrekar and Gautam Gambhir weighed in on KL Rahul's place in the XI, with Manjrekar acknowledging his inconsistency despite overseas success, while Gambhir defended him, emphasizing team management's backing over social media opinions.

Manjrekar felt sorry for Rahul but added that it was a mystery how a batter who has got so many overseas centuries, has not been scoring consisently.

Batting coach Ryan ten Doeschate says Shubman Gill, who had a neck strain, is 'good to go' for the Pune Test; Sarfaraz Khan is coming off a maiden Test century, but captain Rohit Sharma had said he wanted to give KL Rahul time at No.

Check the reason behind KL Rahul and Mohammed Siraj's absence in the second Test between India and New Zealand. Get all the details about why they won't be playing in this crucial match, only on CricTracker.

Shubman Gill is expected to return the playing for India, as they take on New Zealand in the second Test, in Pune.

Head Coach Gautam Gambhir had supported KL Rahul ahead of the second Test match, but his absence from the playing XI raises concerns about the team management's view on KL Rahul's position

KL Rahul is currently going through a rough patch of his career. The batter failed to perform in his recent outing against New Zealand as well.