KL Rahul failed to justify his place in the Indian XI as the hosts crashed to an 8-wicket loss to New Zealand in the first Test of the three-match series. This match was played in Rahul’s home ground of M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

India was blown away for 46 in their first innings after captain Rohit Sharma erred after winning the toss and chose to bat first on day 2 after day one was washed out due to rain. Matt Henry with 5 and Will O’Rourke with 4 wickets ran through Indian batting. KL Rahul scored a duck in the first innings.

In response, Devon Conway with 91, Rachin Ravindra with 134, and Tim Southee with 65 helped New Zealand post 402. In the second innings, India posted 462 runs thanks to 150 from Sarfaraz Khan and 99 by Rishabh Pant. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also scored the fifties. KL Rahul scored 12 runs in the second do.

Set 107 runs to win, New Zealand achieved the target with 8 wickets in hand, registering their first Test win in India after 1988.

After the loss, KL Rahul was seen touching the pitch to seek its blessings. A clip of Rahul's gesture went viral on social media ever since it surfaced after the Test.

Netizens instantly began to speculate whether this was Rahul's farewell Test for India after he bombed in both innings of the match. His act brought back memories of Sachin Tendulkar's farewell Test at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

However, a fan on social explained the rationale behind KL Rahul’s gesture and called it a Bengaluru ritual.

"He didn't touch like a farewell match. He thanked the pitch after the match, a Bengaluru ritual which has been followed by local cricketers," the fan named Sujay Anand replied in a viral tweet.

Rahul has been out of form with the bat since returning to the Test squad for the Bangladesh series last month. The Bengaluru-born 32-year-old only managed 102 in two Tests against Bangladesh before going 0 for 12 against New Zealand at home this week.

Rahul has been subjected to social media criticism every time he gets out cheaply, and he is under a lot of pressure to keep his spot in the Test XI, which some supporters believe should go to Sarfaraz Khan following his 150 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.