"No point sugarcoating, there's fight for spot between Rahul and Sarfaraz": Ryan

Team India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said that KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan will fight for their slots in the side ahead of the second Test match against New ZealandWith Team India aiming to make a comeback from their eightwicket loss against New Zealand the focus will be on the team combination with Washington Sundar added to the squadOn the other hand Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant will be aiming to feature in the second Test by recovering from their injuriesYeah theres no point in sugarcoating it theres 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 Indias training sessionSarfaraz 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 didnt play at and miss at one ball and thats what tends to happen when youre not getting runsTheres certainly no concerns about KL hes batting nicely hes 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 whats going to be best for the team Ryan ten Doeschate saidSarfaraz Khan smashed 150 runs in the second innings against the Kiwis while KL Rahul struggled to accumulate many runs in both the innings Considering that keeping KL Rahul out of the team in Test cricket Ryan ten Doeschate said head coach Gautam Gambhir is keen to give KL a long ropeIts not like were worried about his form If you go on just the past three months since Gauti has been in here hes keen to give him Rahul as much rope as we can We have a lot of faith in him he saidAlso ReadNot Kohli or Smith Cook names player who stands closest to Joe Root in TestsBut at the same time its a very competitive environment with Sarfaraz getting 150 plus runs 222 not out in the Irani Trophy final The decision will be whats best for the team but well certainly back all the guys in Ryan ten Doeschate addedPant 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 fitnessRishabh 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 hell be good to keep in the Test as well he saidHe Gill looks so available for this Test He has batted last week in Bangalore he had a few nets hes got a little bit of discomfort but I think hell be good to go for the Test he addedTen Doeschate said the addition of Washington Sundar is no desperate measure but to add a bowling option who would take the ball away from the Kiwis lefthandersDefinitely not They New Zealand are filled with four lefthanders in the XI Weve had Washy around the whiteball squad for a while and we like the way he operates Its also nice to see that guys are getting rewarded for Ranji Trophy performance as wellWe just want to make sure were absolutely prepared for conditions here and if that does mean taking the ball away from the lefthander we want that option he addedRyan ten Doeschate said Mohammed Siraj could be going through a wicket drought but there was nothing to suggest that he was struggling for rhythmSiraj bowled beautifully in the second innings That hour of Test match cricket on the last morning was really high quality Ryan ten Doeschate saidIt maybe wasnt a nicking wicket which is obviously his big strength particularly to lefthanders when he moves the ball across Theres nothing there to say like hes not bowling well or his rhythm is not goodMaybe hes just going through a little bit of a wicket drought But no concerns again he saidIndia will have to play according to the conditions and not against fast bowling in particular the coach saidI dont think specifically to fast bowlers and when the ball is new but playing a bit more to conditions is something we want to work on he saidObviously that first innings was ridiculously tough with the ball seaming around There will be other times when fast bowling is the right option to go after it Ryan ten Doeschate addedWith PTI Inputs