Given the fact that the usually number three in the batting order for India as Shubman Gill in this case had to sit this match due to a stiff neck, after eight years, Kohli traditional number three bat had to fit in that position. However, he perished for a nine ball duck. After day two saw night falls, the captain of the Indian contingent Rohit Sharma framed a statement that Kohli took the option to bat at such a position. “The experienced players are the ones who have to take that extra responsibility. It is a good sign. This time, it was Virat. He was the one who was ready to do that. We asked him whether he can bat at number three,” Rohit revealed.
Kohli has looked to by Rahane and our intention was specific – we wanted to give Sarfraz the position that he usually bats which is four, five, six perhaps. But we did not want to change Rishabh and KL (Rahul). So, Sarfraz went at four and Virat took three,” he stated.
Rohit also acknowledged Henry and O’Rourke what annoyed the Indian batters in the course of the first innings.
“Back home, they play under such conditions. They know very well how to react in such a situation. Their bowlers, in fact, made our batters work
They made us play every second, or third ball. That is what you want to do as a bowling unit. We did not take up that challenge.” When asked what India could possibly do to come back after already giving up the lead by 134 runs, Rohit said, “I think in order for us to remain in the game, we have got to not allow them go away with a pile of runs. Currently, they are at 180, which is approximately 140 runs (lead) to the target.
“The wicket seems to be settling down a little bit and we expect the pitch to play like that. We have got a bat really big in the second inning and try and see if we can make a game out of that,” he signed off.
