Virat Kohli forced to bat at No. 3 in Test cricket after 8 years? Rohit Sharma reveals

Indian national cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has revealed whether batting superstar Virat Kohli was forced to bat at number 3 position in Test cricket during the first match against the New Zealand national cricket team. Zeeland.

The first Test of the three-match series between India and New Zealand began at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, October 17, after the first day was washed out.

Virat Kohli bats at number 3 after a gap of 8 years

India were forced to make a big change to their playing XI for the first Test against the Kiwis as star batsman Shubam Gill was ruled out of the match with neck stiffness.

To replace Shubman Gill in the team, the Indian team management hired Sarfaraz Khan. However, the youngster was not given Gill’s No.3 spot.

Many expected KL Rahul to occupy the number 3 position due to his ability to play anywhere in the batting order. However, Virat Kohli came out to bat after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal.

It was the first time since 2016 that Kohli batted in that position in Test cricket. The last time Kohli batted at number 3 in Test cricket was against the West Indies National Cricket Team.

Kohli had a forgettable outing with the bat against the BlackCaps as he bagged a 9-ball duck before being dismissed by pacer William O’Rourke.

Rohit Sharma talks about Virat Kohli’s sudden No. 3 change in Test cricket”

Rohit Sharma attended the press conference after Day 2 of the first Test between India and New Zealand and was asked about the change in Virat Kohli’s batting position.

The Indian captain revealed that Kohli was asked to take Gill’s place despite knowing his poor record at No. 3 in the previous six Test innings, where he had scored just 97 runs at an average of 19.40.

Rohit Sharma said Kohli was ready for the challenge and added that experienced players must take extra responsibility in the team and youngsters like Sarfaraz Khan must be given time to adjust to a position where they normally bat.

“Experienced players are the ones who have to take on that extra responsibility and this time it was Virat. He was the one who was ready to do it.” [bat at No. 3]”said Rohit Sharma.

“We asked him if he can handle the number 3 because Sarfaraz [Khan] …we wanted to give Sarfaraz also the position in which he usually bats [at] four and five, six maybe.”

We didn’t want to change Rishabh and KL Rahul and that’s why Sarfaraz went to four – Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma further stated that they did not want to change the batting position of Rishabh Pant and particularly KL Rahul and hence sent Sarfaraz Khan to Kohli’s number 4 spot. He elaborated:

“But we didn’t want to change Rishabh and KL [Rahul]and that’s why Sarfaraz batted for four and Virat batted for three.

“It’s actually a good sign, we have players who are taking that responsibility and taking on the challenge.” It’s a good sign. “After a long time, KL is at number six, so we want to keep him… force him to bat there.”