India vs Australia: Sunil Gavaskar surprised by Virat Kohli’s decision to promote KL Rahul to No.3
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels that under no circumstance should Kohli have handed the No.3 slot to Rahul in the opening game of the series.
India skipper Virat Kohli is also known as the chase master and his move to promote KL Rahul ahead of him, especially when the team was chasing 174 in 17 overs surprised quite a few. In the end, not only did Rahul manage just 13, but also played 12 balls during his stay at the crease. This increased the pressure further on Kohli when he came out to bat with the score reading 81/2 in the 9th over. The end result was that Kohli tried to hit every ball and ended up scoring just 4 off 8 balls.
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels that under no circumstance should Kohli have handed the No.3 slot to Rahul in the opening game of the series. “I don’t think Kohli should have batted at No.4. In the first match of the tour, you want to bat on the position you generally bat on. It is only when you have won a series, you take such chances,” Gavaskar said in the post-match show of the match.
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Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke echoed the sentiments and said: “Virat Kohli is that batsman who can come in, take a few balls and bat till the end and win you games. I would want to see him bat up the order at No.3. He can even open but not go down the order.”
Speaking at the end of the game, Kohli said the team needs to learn from the mistakes in the first game. “Lot of Indians came in to support us which is always the case anywhere we play. It was a close game, exciting one for the crowd to watch and for the players as well. Was a see-saw battle. Started well with the bat, fumbled in the middle overs, in the end we thought we’ll win with Pant and Karthik. But it changed again with Pant’s dismissal,” Kohli said.
He was all praise for opener Shikhar Dhawan. “He’s (Dhawan) a very strong player at the top of the order. Hasn’t got a T20 hundred yet, but the way he plays it really benefits the team. That’s how it goes in the game.
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“What we can do is learn from the mistakes and get back better. On the day, if we can have three-four guys to stand up for the team, that’s what we want. Don’t have much time to think of things, which can be a good thing as well as a bad thing,” Kohli said.