(AFP file photo)
Australia on Tuesday hammered India to take an early lead in the 3 match ODI series. India made lots of controversial decisions in the 1st match of the series which included the captain himself demoting in the batting order.
Virat Kohli in the post-match presentation, when asked about his new batting position, said that he focused on giving opportunities to young guys. He also said that he needs to rethink about his new batting position.
The Indian skipper said-
“We’ve had this discussion many times in the past as well, due to the way KL has been batting. We’ve tried to fit him into the team.
Having said that, it hasn’t gone our way when I have batted at no.4, so we have to see how it goes. At the same time, it’s about giving opportunities to the other guys. People need not panic for just this one game. I think I am allowed to experiment a bit”
India also preferred Shardul Thakur ahead of Navdeep Saini which was difficult to understand as well. Navdeep Saini was the standout bowler for India in the Sri Lankan series but he was overlooked for the all-important Australia series which raised many questions.
The Indian captain came into bat at the 29th over mark which Virat is not used to of late. KL Rahul who came into bat at No:3 played a handy knock but was not good enough to convert it into a match-defining one as he threw away his wicket after facing 61 deliveries for his 47 runs, as a result, India collapsed from 135-1 to 165-5. India lost its momentum at the halfway mark and couldn’t post a challenging total on the board.
VVS Laxman on Virat’s batting position –
“I don’t see this plan of Virat Kohli at 4 working. Even Sachin Tendulkar never liked batting at No 4 when he was demoted in the 2007WC. The last team you would like to experiment against is Australia”.
Fans on Twitter also expressed their shock on the world’s #1 batsman demoting himself in the batting order.