India’s poor show with the bat rightly grabbed the headlines on the opening day of their first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first under an overcast sky. The decision backfired with Matt Henry and William O’Rourke wreaking havoc as they shared nine wickets between them to have their host bowl out for a mere 46 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
India made to changes to their playing XI which took the field during their last Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur. While Kuldeep Yadav walked in as an extra spinner with India benching a pacer in Akash Deep, Sarfaraz Khan was given a go thanks to Shubman Gill not being 100 per cent fit for the contest.
With Gill not playing, it was Virat Kohli who had to bat a spot higher than his usual no.4 position. And the former found himself in the middle a lot earlier than anticipated after his predecessor Rohit was removed early on 2.
Kohli didn’t last long either as New Zealand exploited the seam-friendly conditions to slice through Indian batting order.
Kohli recorded a nine-ball duck before falling to O’Rourke.
While the 35-year-old Kohli may have failed to make any impact in the first innings, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was all praise for the batting superstar for stepping up when his team needed it by showing willingness to bat at no. 3 while giving up his preferred no.4 spot.
Hats off to Virat Kohli!Coming out to bat at no 3 bcoz the team needed it.Ganguly, Tendulkar were very keen to open in white ball cricket, but never wanted to go up the order in Tests.That’s a true champion right there for you! Virat. #INDvNZ— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 17, 2024
“Hats off to Virat Kohli!” Manjrekar wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Coming out to bat at no 3 bcoz the team needed it.”
“Ganguly, Tendulkar were very keen to open in white ball cricket, but never wanted to go up the order in Tests. That’s a true champion right there for you! Virat,” he added.
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