KL Rahul Invites Retired Pace Sensation To Bowl To Him In Nets Ahead Of IND vs NZ 2nd Test In Pune

IND vs NZ 2nd Test: Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir are under a lot of pressure and rightfully so. The hosts, in a very unexpected manner, lost the series opener to Tom Latham's New Zealand, a Kane Williamson less New Zealand. This has put Team India under the pump and they are eyeing a series leveller. India will have to nullify New Zealand's lead and will have to win the second Test if they want to avoid a series loss. But India's biggest concern lies in KL Rahul and his form.

KL Rahul Goes Through a Special Net Session

India's middle order batsman KL Rahul is in all sorts of pressure as his bat has failed to do the talking for quite sometime now. KL Rahul's form has been a matter of concern for everybody. Just to make matters worse for him, Mumbai youngster Sarfaraz Khan scored a brilliant hundred in Bengaluru, on a wicket, that was not being considered that great to bat upon.

There has been a constant comparison between Rahul and Sarfaraz and it is interesting to see that who gets the final nod ahead of the Pune Test. India have a selection headache and they'll have to deal with it in a balanced manner. Ahead of the much-anticipated Pune Test match, Rahul went through a special net session as he invited India's bowling coach, former South African pace bowling sensation Morne Morkel to bowl to him in the nets.

Watch the Video Here

India Look To Nullify New Zealand's Lead

With India in a spot of bother, focus has undeniably been on the nature of the pitch at the MCA Stadium, Pune. It does not have grass cover and is composed of black soil to negate the bounce, which New Zealand extracted in Bengaluru.

India's free-flowing batters cut a sorry figure when William O'Rourke and the seasoned duo of Matt Henry and Tim Southee served a wake up call which no one saw coming on a pace-friendly track that was admittedly misread by Rohit despite overcast conditions. Preparing a rank turner could be one way out but it has backfired on India twice in the past.

Australia hammered them by a monumental 333 runs on the same venue, eight years ago while the same team handed a nine-wicket defeat to them in Indore last year. By his own lofty standards, Yashasvi Jaiswal endured two successive failures in the Bengaluru Test and the young batter looked to iron out his flaws when he had multiple stints in the nets.

(With PTI Inputs)