Former Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik showered praise on Virat Kohli for willingly accepting the number three position in the first innings of the opening Test match against New Zealand at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday after Shubman Gill was ruled out with a stiff neck.
Karthik said India’s think could have asked either KL Rahul or Sarfaraz Khan to bat one down but Kohli was ready to bat out of his usual number four position. But the talisman batter was dismissed for a nine-ball duck after he received a jaffa from William O’Rourke, who got the ball to jag back into the right-hander.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik said, “Commendable on Virat Kohli also, he could have easily said, ‘no, let me bat at four, because you can put KL Rahul or Sarfaraz Khan at three.’ Coach would have said, ‘fine, I will manage that conversation.’ The fact that he said, ‘no, I am happy to go at three,’ tells you the mindset.”
“Results are one thing, obviously it hasn’t gone his way today, but just the fact that India is at a place where people are willing to adapt and at the same time give respect to what the coach thinks, I won’t say it is the right decision.”
Meanwhile, Kohli doesn’t have a great record while batting at number three as he averages below 20. Kohli last batted at three in Test cricket back in 2016.
“I am not protecting Virat Kohli. He has the temperament and technique of some of the greatest batters that have ever played. If I make a change, it is because I believe that player will do well there, not because I want to protect Virat Kohli. He walks in at no. 3 in every ODI, he opens in T20, now you can say the ball is different, it’s not moving as much, 100 percent, in Test cricket where is the best suited place for Virat Kohli, no. 4,” said Karthik in the aforementioned interview.
Karthik said Rahul should have batted at number three as he has opening experience under his belt.
“I still feel personally KL should have batted at three, that’s what I feel, that’s different. But I definitely don’t follow Gambhir’s thinking of let’s have the same batting order, so that there’s consistency in their thought process and eventually the results will come out.”
New Zealand currently has a healthy lead of 250 runs with three wickets in hand.
