According to Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli took the onus to bat at number three position in the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After a gap of eight years, Kohli walked out to bat at number 3 and was snared for a nine-ball duck against William O’Rourke.
Kohli has been going through a torrid run while batting at number three as he could only score 97 runs from six matches at an average of 16.16.
“Yes, he is a local boy. So he has to bat at 3? (laughs). After a long time, KL Rahul has found a spot at No. 6. We want to make him bat there. The experienced players are the ones who have to take up more responsibility. This time, it was Virat. He was the one who was ready to do that,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
“We asked him whether he could bat at No. 3. Sarfaraz, we also wanted to give him the position that he usually bats — 4, 5 and 6. We didn’t want to change Rishabh and KL. Hence, Sarfaraz went at No. 4 and Virat batted at No. 3. It’s a good sign. Players coming up and taking responsibility and owning up the challenge. It’s a good sign,” Rohit said.
The Indian team had a terrible run in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test. After choosing to bat first, the host nation were restricted to just 46 runs in 31.2 overs. Apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal (13) and Rishabh Pant (20), none of the Indian batters went into double digits.
“We thought it wouldn’t help seamers much after the first session or so. There wasn’t much grass either. We thought it would be flat. It was a misjudgement and I couldn’t read the pitch well,” Rohit added.
India Playing 11: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
New Zealand Playing 11: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke.
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