Virat Kohli bagged a nine-ball duck while batting at No. 3 in Bengaluru Test.
India’s star batter Virat Kohli walked out to bat at No. 3 on Day 2 of the opening Test against New Zealand at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Kohli, who usually bats at No. 4 in Test cricket, moved one spot up in the batting order as Shubman Gill was not available for selection due to stiff neck.
Kohli last batted at No.3 in 2016 against the West Indies. It was expected that KL Rahul would come into bat at one down position, given that he was familiar with the conditions at the Chinnaswamy stadium being the local star. However, the Indian management decided to keep him in his new spot in the middle-order.
On the other hand, Sarfaraz Khan, who replaced Gill in the playing XI, batted at No. 4 in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test.
The decision of the Indian team management backfired badly. Kohli's return to the No. 3 spot after eight years ended in disaster as the veteran campaigner was dismissed for a 9-ball duck by Kiwi pacer William O’Rourke, while Sarfaraz and Rahul also got out without troubling the scorers.
After the day’s play, India skipper Rohit Sharma explained the move to send Virat Kohli at one down position.
“Yes, he is a local boy. So he has to bat at 3? (laughs),” Rohit jokingly said, referring to Kohli’s legendary association with RCB and the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“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. We asked him whether he can bat at No. 3. Sarfaraz, we wanted to also 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,” he elaborated.
Coming to the match, the hosts were outclassed by the Kiwis after opting to bat first in Bengaluru. India’s first innings folded for a paltry 46 in 31.2 overs under challenging seaming conditions. It was a listless batting performance as no one managed to cross the 20-run mark.
Matt Henry and William Orourke starred with the ball for New Zealand, returning with five wickets and four scalps respectively.
Rohit admitted that Team India failed to read the Chinnaswamy pitch properly. “You see and you try and make the judgement. Sometimes, you make the right call, sometimes you don't. I was on the other side of it this time around, which is, I don't know. I am hurting a little bit because I made that call.”
“For us, as a team, these are the challenges. We have put ourselves under pressure a little bit. We want to play well. We want to challenge ourselves. This time, it didn't come off. We didn't respond well to the challenge. As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number - 46 all out. But, in 365 days, you make two or three bad calls. That's okay, that's fine,” he explained.
The Indian captain also praised the Kiwi fast bowlers for making the most of the seaming conditions.
“The conditions suited New Zealand the most. They play in such conditions back home. Their bowlers challenged our bat a lot. They made us play every second, and third ball. That's exactly what you have to do when you see conditions like this.”
“There was a fair bit of help and they extracted that help pretty well and we didn't respond to that challenge well,” he remarked.
In reply, New Zealand ended the second day on 180/3, securing a significant lead of 134 runs with seven wickets in hand. Devon Conway was the top scorer with 91, while Rachin Ravindra (22*) and Daryl Mitchell (14*) remained unbeaten at stumps.