On Day 4 of the second Test between India and Bangladesh, which was played at Green Park in Kanpur, the Indian team’s management, led by captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir, had to alter the batting order due to certain circumstances.
It is not often that Test cricket’s best batsman, Virat Kohli, of India, is demoted from his preferred number four spot. Over the years, Kohli has established himself at number four, with his explosive strokeplay in the longest version of the game serving as the focal point for the entire team.
Bangladesh started the fourth day 107/3 after losing a few days earlier because of a wet outfield. In the second session of the day, all five of the Indian bowlers, led by Jasprit Bumrah, helped Bangladesh be destroyed for a score of 233.
The Indian openers went all out from the first ball, knowing that there were vital World Test Championship points at risk. Their goal was obvious: they wanted to take as big of a lead as they could quickly after declaring, so they could try to overpower Bangladesh and maybe win by innings, or they wanted to chase the smallest possible target.
With Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma going toe-to-toe, India got off to a quick start and achieved the fastest team fifty and century in Test cricket history. Jaiswal was bowled out in the fifteenth over with the team total at 127, just as he was about to blast his way to a brilliant century.
Even though everyone in the stadium and the Indian fans watching the match on TV expected Kohli to step up to the crease, Rishabh Pant was sent ahead of him, leaving former India great Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating for JioCinema, baffled by that decision. “You are discussing a man who, while batting at No. 4, amassed nearly 9,000 runs in Test cricket,” said Gavaskar.
Murali Karthik, another panellist, stated that India chose to proceed with Pant rather than Kohli because they wanted to maintain the left-hand-right-hand combo.
In the past, left-handers have been elevated to the No. 4 spot rather than Virat Kohli
The batsman-wicketkeeper wasn’t the first to start at number four in place of Kohli. While Pant was dragging a wide delivery outside off stump straight to long-on to give Shakib Al Hasan his second wicket of the game, he was unable to put the pedal to the floor and was out for just nine runs.
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In previous Test matches, Axar Patel, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ishan Kishan were the four batsmen who were sent in before Kohli at two down.
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