India’s star batter Virat Kohli’s return to the No.3 spot after a gap of 8 years during the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand ended in disaster as he was dismissed for a 9-ball duck. Kohli has come into the spot as the usual No.3, Shubman Gill was ruled out of the match after not being fully fit.
Gill had neck stiffness and wasn’t fully fit for the contest, as revealed by the BCCI after the toss. Kohli last batted at No.3 in 2016 against the West Indies. It was expected that KL Rahul would have come in to bat at No.3 spot, given that he was familiar with the conditions at the Chinnaswamy stadium being the hometown star. However, India have decided to keep him in his new spot in the middle-order.India needed Kohli’s services early as Rohit Sharma was cleaned up by Tim Southee early in the first innings. India had won the toss and opted to bat first, with the lights on full effect. The bowl was swinging in both dirtections with Southee and Matt Henry troubling the Indian openers.
